Coraline 2: Return to the Other World
by theboyandgirlwhowaited
Summary: Life can't get any worse for Alli Wood when she has to move from sunny California to rainy Oregon. But when the Beldam lures her into discovering the Other World, she's completely happy until she discovers it's a trap. Can Coraline and Wybie save her?
1. Prologue

**Coraline 2: Return to the Other World**

**Summary: **Life can't get any worse for Alli Woods when she has to move from sunny California to rainy Oregon. But when the Beldam lures her into discovering the Other World, she's completely happy – until she discovers it's a trap. Can Coraline and Wybie save her before it's too late? Sequel to the movie.

**A/N: **Yes, I know. EVERYONE is doing a Coraline sequel. But, from all the ones that I've read, this one is going to be different. Much different. I've had this idea in my head for longer than a year, and I've been writing this story for just as long, and _finally _I'm publishing it. (:

**Disclaimer: **Coraline belongs to Neil Gaiman and Henry Selick, not me, sadly. But Alli, Max, Olivia Woods, Lucy Barfield, and Coraline, Wybie, and Lucy's friends from school, however, DO belong to me. (:

**PROLOGUE**

Coraline lay on her bed, humming softly and flipping the pages of a magazine that had just arrived in the mail yesterday. She was reading about some Asian women who dyed their scarves over and over again and burned them. It seemed extremely pointless to Coraline, but there was nothing else to read.

"Coraline? Come down here!" Mrs. Jones's voice came from downstairs. Coraline sighed and closed her magazine, walking down the steps. She hesitated in front of the drawing room, glancing at the little door in the corner. It was completely shut, same as always.

Almost everyday, Coraline checked the door (from a distance) – just to be sure it was locked, and every day, it was. It had been eighteen months – one and a half years – since she'd moved from Michigan to Ashland and discovered the little door in the corner of the drawing room, which wasn't so little at all. Behind it was another world, called the Other World, where she had an Other Mother, Other Father, Other Neighbors, everything. The Others were much better versions than their real selves – her Other Mother actually cared about her, her Other Father was funny, and not in the embarrassing way, and her Other Neighbors were a lot less weird, and more fun. The Other World was great – except for one little problem. To stay there, she'd have to have buttons sewn into her eyes, like everyone else there.

Coraline had refused, and her Other Mother had gotten angry, and transformed into a spider-witch thing, and taken her _real _parents, which Coraline had to go back and save, and also find the three children's ghost eyes.

Anyway, it was a long story – a story that was over and done with. Her parents were back, and the Other Mother was gone. She was free from her. Even the nightmares had stopped – she hadn't had one in about a month.

Coraline suddenly realized she was still standing in the doorway of the drawing room, so she turned and headed into the kitchen, where she found her mother, Mel Jones, sitting and reading a magazine. "I got a call from Wybie's grandmother today." Mrs. Jones declared, flinching slightly when she said the name of Coraline's friend and Coraline hid a smirk. Just the other day, Wybie had knocked into the cabinet and had broken three plates. Of course he had offered to pay for it, but Coraline still knew her mother was at cautious terms with him.

"And?" Coraline asked. Wybie's grandmother was one of the only people she had told about the Other World, and was the only person that had believed her right off the bat. She'd also told Wybie and her parents, but Wybie took a while to believe her, and her parents still thought she had just been dreaming.

"You know how she owns the Pink Palace Apartments, right? Well, some new people are moving in."

"Really? Where?" She asked, excited.

Mrs. Jones nodded. "To the empty flat across from us where the 'Jones imposters' live," she joked. The little door in the drawing room had originally lead to the empty flat behind Coraline's, until it had been bricked up when the house had been divided into flats. When Coraline told her parents about her dreams about the door (which had turned out to be reality), Mrs. Jones had called the Other Family "Jones' imposters."

Coraline laughed nervously, and then quickly changed the subject. "How many are moving in?"

"Three. It's a family, I think," Mrs. Jones replied.

"A _family?_" Coraline cried, excited.

Mel smiled. She was doing that more often nowadays. "I knew you would be excited. I'm pretty sure there's a mother, a boy around seven, a girl just around your age."

"Yes!" Coraline shrieked with excitement, bouncing up and down, her blue hair bouncing along with her. "This is _great!_" Coraline was in need of a _girl _neighbor-friend. She had a bunch of girl-friends at school, and she loved Wybie and Cat, but still.

"I think her name starts with a K…or maybe an L…" Coraline rolled her eyes. "What? I'm not good with names. Ask Wybie in the morning, he might know."

"Can't I ask him now?" asked Coraline, frowning.

"Ask who what now?" Charlie Jones, Coraline's dad, entered the room, with a cup of milk in his hand. Coraline rolled her eyes. Her dad could be _so _nosy sometimes.

"I want to ask Wybie what the new girl's name is," Coraline replied, and turned back to her mom, waiting for her answer.

"It's, like, nine o' clock, Coraline," Mel said. "It's too late to go bother them. Just wait like a normal person and ask him in the morning."

Coraline groaned – one of her many flaws was her impatient ness. "Fine."

"What new girl?" Charlie asked, sitting at the kitchen table and sipping from his glass of milk.

"There's a family moving into the empty flat across from us," Coraline told her father, unable to hide her smile. "And they've got a girl about my age."

"I _think,_" Mel butted in. "Don't get your hopes up. I don't know for sure."

"Yeah, yeah," Coraline rolled her eyes. "I'm going to bed, okay?"

"Okay. Good night," Mel called as Coraline climbed up the steps. She entered her room and flopped onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Coraline liked to do this – just stare at the ceiling and think.

"Meow," Coraline jumped and glanced up. Cat stood behind the window, patting the windowpane with his paw. Coraline immediately unlatched the window and Cat sprang in, landing daintily on the bed. He curled into a small ball and looked up at her with his huge blue eyes.

Coraline grinned and moved the magazine away from the bed, sitting down and scratching behind his ears. "There's a new family moving in!" Coraline whispered to Cat, grinning. She sighed happily and didn't even notice the Cat's worried look.

Coraline slid into bed and fell asleep, Cat in her arms, and was immediately sucked into her dreams.

She stood in front of the Pink Palace Apartments, and it was dead night. But somehow she knew this wasn't _her_ Pink Palace. This was the _Other _Pink Palace.

Coraline shivered in the wind and approached the steps. On the balcony on the upper flat stood Mr. Bobinsky and his mice circus, their button eyes glinting, smiling eerily. At the top of the stairs down to the bottom flat stood the younger Misses Spink and Forcible, Miss Spink standing on Miss Forcible's shoulders, their expressions the same as Mr. Bobinsky's. But Coraline walked past them and into the house and as she stood in the doorway, she heard the haunting voice she hoped she'd never hear again.

"Coraline…Coraline…Coraline…" Coraline followed the voice and stood in the drawing room to face the Other Mother, her needle hands tapping on the table, a grim look upon her face.

"No!" Coraline shrieked as the Other Mother leaned forward and grabbed her by the shoulders. Suddenly the scene changed. She was in the garden, and then she was in the Other Misses Spink and Forcible's flat, and then she was in Wybie's house, and then she was in front of the well, and finally she was in the room behind the mirror.

And suddenly the Beldam began to change. She changed to her mother, then her father, then Cat, then Miss Spink, then Miss Forcible, then Mr. Bobinsky, then Wybie, then the Other Wybie, then the three ghosts, then Lucy and her other friends from school, then finally a girl with short dark brown hair.

But they all had button eyes.

It takes a long time to write, but it was happening so fast that Coraline could hardly make it out. And she kept on repeating, over and over, "I will get you Coraline! You have not seen the last of me!"

Coraline screamed and bolted upright, startling Cat. And suddenly, she was back in her room at her _real_ home in the _real _world. She sighed with relief and held the cat closer. He purred angrily and she loosened her grip slightly. "Sorry," she whispered. Tears were in her eyes and she was drenched with cold sweat. She sat the cat in front of her. He licked his paw.

Coraline frowned. She hadn't had one of the dreams in at least a month…why was she having another one?

"It was just a dream," she said aloud. "It was just a dream. Right?" She looked at Cat. He just blinked and set his paw down. Coraline frowned. "Well you're no help." But she invited him back into her arms and she settled down for sleep.

**X.x.X**

"Everything's complete."

The Bedlam leaned against the kitchen counter, her mouth in a smug line. Her long, black fingernails tapped against her arm, making a horrible hollow sound, but it didn't seem to bother her. She looked around the room she was standing in – a replica of the kitchen in the empty flat of Coraline's apartment.

She had seen what was coming far before it had happened. As soon as Coraline had left and taken her power away, she lay in waiting, crumpled in a heap on the floor. She lay like that until finally she gained enough power to stand up. In our time it would be about two or three months – but in hers who knew how long? As soon as she stood up she began getting back to work. The house needed fixing up, seeing as the wallpaper was peeling off of the walls, and of course the grounds had all disappeared. And of course she needed to make more "Others." It all took a while – but finally, everything was complete – she had even made the little spy doll! And not too soon, either – for the new girl was planning to move in two weeks. But, yes – everything was complete, and the Bedlam was sure that everything would fall into place.

If it wasn't for that ugly vermin!

She knew that he watched her as she worked, but she did nothing about it – after all, the cat couldn't talk or warn anyone in the real world – at least, not verbally. But what if he warned the girl here? What would she do then?

The Bedlam's forehead creased but she took a deep breath and calmed down. If he did, who cared? She'd just have to be better than him. And she could do that. Of course she could. She already was.

And the Bedlam began to laugh. Nothing could stop her now. Nothing.

**X.x.X**

**A/N: **Just in case you're a little confused – the Bedlam gained power a few months after Coraline left the Other World, because she's a witch and witches gain power faster than we do. Then she began fixing up the house and the grounds for the new girl, and when Mel tells Coraline that a girl's moving in its two weeks advance to when the new girl actually does move in.

Also – if you've only seen the movie Coraline but haven't read the book then you may be thinking, "What? There are only three flats in the Pink Palace!" But if you've read the book, on page nine, it says: _"When this place was just one house," said Coraline's mother, "that door went somewhere. When they turned the house into flats, they simply bricked it up. __The other side is the empty flat on the other side of the house, the one that's still for sale.__"_

And in the movie there has to be _something _behind the bricked up door (besides the Other World, I mean).

Review, please! (:


	2. Changes

**CHAPTER ONE:**

**Changes**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Coraline, Hollister, iTunes, iPods, the videos at the bottom of the chapter, or the songs _The Only Exception _by Paramore, _The Best Day _by Taylor Swift, or _Changes _by Butterfly Boucher & David Bowie.

**x.X.x**

"Okay, let's see…all of my stuff is packed. How about you, Max?"

Olivia Woods turned to her seven-year-old son, who was rubbing the sweat away from his forehead. The Woods family was burning up in the heat, despite the fact that it was December. It was always hot in southern California.

Max beamed at his mom "Yup." He patted his suit-case and moved around to the front of the car, climbing into the back seat.

"Great. What about you, Alli?" She turned to her twelve-year-old daughter who was sitting in the seat across from Max, her chin propped up on her hand, gazing out the window into the backyard, earbuds plugged in her ears. "Alli?" Alli still didn't answer. "Alli!"

Alli yanked the earbuds out of her ears. "No." She replied stiffly. Her mom opened her mouth to continue yelling, but her daughter cut her off. "I don't have Sam," she said pointedly.

Olivia let out something that was a mixture of a sigh and a groan. "Alli, the Pink Palace Apartments _doesn't allow cats!_"

Alli Woods looked over her shoulder to glare at her mother. "We don't have Dad, either," she said quietly, but loud enough for her mom to hear her. Olivia opened her mouth, then shut it and moved around to the front of the car, slamming the door shut. Alli turned her iPod back on, tuning out the rest of the world.

If only she could tune out the world all the time.

Olivia stepped inside the car and slammed the front door, jamming the key in the ignition, and they were off. Alli stared at their house until it disappeared, quickly blinking away tears.

The song on her iPod changed to a Billy Joel song that her dad had bought on iTunes. She felt tears welling up again and quickly changed the song.

"_When I was younger I saw, my daddy cry, and curse at the wind…_

_He broke his own heart and I watched as he tried to reassemble it…_"

_Seriously?_ Alli changed the song again.

"_I'm five years old, it's getting cold, I've got my big coat on…_

_I hear your laugh and look up smiling at you, I run and run_

_Past the pumpkin patch and the tractor rides, look now the sky is gold  
I hug your legs and fall asleep on the way home…_"

Alli groaned and stopped her iPod, taking out her earplugs and throwing the device into her lap.

Alli glared out the window at everything she passed, blinking the tears away. She didn't _want _to move. She _liked _California, where it was always sunny and she could walk to Disney World or Universal or the beach. She liked that she could enjoy an ice-cream cone under the palm tree in the back yard sitting by the Jacuzzi. She liked that it was only one season, and she liked making trips to the Caribbean with her family every other year.

Sure, Oregon was only one state away, but it wasn't the same. Did Oregon have a beach? She didn't think so. At least, not one near Ashland.

And what about her friends? What about Julie Watson and Emma Carter? She'd _grown up _with them! She'd known them since diapers! And what about Jake? With his messy brown hair, bright, shining blue eyes…she had been _sure _he was going to finally ask her out.

Well, he couldn't _now._

And then there were the dreams. She kept on having dreams about buttons for eyes and needles and sewing machines and a pink house and dolls. It frightened her, and for some reason, she knew it had to do with Oregon. And then she kept on feeling like she was being watched…

Alli shuddered and pushed those thoughts away.

And why were they moving?

Because of her dad.

Three weeks ago, her mother and father had gotten a divorce. Olivia had grown up in Ashland, Oregon, and she missed her hometown. And they couldn't stay in their old house anymore anyway. It belonged to her dad now. So they had just packed up their bags and left.

Alli sighed and pushed back tears again, turning on her iPod and playing a random song, trying to let the music drown her thoughts.

"_Still don't know what I was waiting for_

_Any my time was running wild_

_A million dead-end streets and every time I thought I'd got it made_

_It seemed the taste was not so sweet_

_So I turned myself to face me, but I've never caught a glimpse_

_Of how the others must see the faker, I'm much too fast to take that test_

_Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (turn and face the strain)_

_Ch-ch-changes. Don't wanna be a richer man…_"

"Ugh!" Alli shouted. _What is it with all these ironic songs?_

She sighed and stared out the window. Changes. Oregon would have a _lot _of changes.

Far more than she could ever imagine.

**x.X.x**

"Are we _there_ yet?" Max moaned for the umpteenth time.

Olivia gritted her teeth, tightening her hands on the wheel. "We'll get there when we get there!" She said, trying to sound calm. Driving made her nervous, along with dogs and impatient children.

Alli rolled her eyes and turned her head back to glaring out the window.

"Look! The Pink Palace Apartments! We're here!" Max squealed excitedly. Olivia

let out a sigh of relief.

"What a dumb name," Alli muttered.

Mrs. Woods rolled the car to a stop and turned around in her seat and gave her daughter what Mr. Woods used to call the 'evil-witch-mother-of-doom' glare. "Now you listen here, young lady, and you listen hard. We are new here. I want you to be on your best behavior to the neighbors, the movers, your schoolmates (when school starts), _everyone! _Do you understand me?"

"Yes, ma'am," muttered Alli. Olivia gave her one last look before turning around. The brunette made a face at her neck.

Max eagerly hopped out of the car and Alli let out a long sigh before following him. The wind whipped her hair as she stared suspiciously up at the building. It was a terrible shade of pink and the paint was fading. The building looked over a thousand years old. But…for some reason, it looked familiar. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Hi!" She whipped around to face two kids. One was a girl with blue hair and was extremely pale. She was the one who said 'hi', she guessed. The other was a boy with frizzy brown hair and a hunch-back. Alli quickly jumped away from them.

"I'm Coraline Jones," she continued. "I live on the flat below you."

"Great," muttered Alli, setting her suitcase down on the dirt. She pushed her dark brown hair back. _Why does she have blue hair? And what is she wearing? That's the tackiest raincoat I've ever seen!_

"This is Wyborne Lovat," Caroline introduced her friend.

"WYBIE!" The hunch-back shouted indignantly.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Whatever. He doesn't live here, but he lives nearby. His grandma owns the Pink Palace Apartments." Wybie waved. "Anyway, what's your name?" She grinned.

"Uh…" Alli looked over her shoulder and saw her mother inserting keys into the front door to their new flat. "I've gotta go." She grabbed her suitcase and turned around, calling over her shoulder, "Bye Caroline and Wylie!"

**x.X.x**

"Ugh!" Coraline said once the girl was out of ear-shot. "Why does everyone get my name wrong?"

Wybie stared after the girl, dumb-founded. "Wylie? Really?" he said in disgust.

"We didn't even get her name," Coraline snapped, rolling her eyes. She watched the girl head into her flat. She was pretty, with short brown hair and green eyes. She was normal weight – not too fat, not too skinny, with a nice figure. She was wearing a Hollister shirt (_She's probably a Prep, _Coraline thought) and regular jeans. Coraline couldn't help but think that she knew the girl from somewhere, although she had no idea where. But she'd _definitely _seen her before.

And suddenly, she knew exactly where.

_She was the girl from the dream._

Coraline gasped and staggered backwards. It was the girl that she hadn't recognized – the exact same one. She was even wearing the same outfit. The only difference was that she didn't have button eyes.

How on _earth _had she dreamt something that hadn't even happened yet?

"What?" Wybie looked at Coraline weird – apparently her gasp was louder than she meant it to be.

"Uh. Nothing," She stared at the girl for a moment longer, before she grabbed Wybie's arm and turned around. "Let's just go inside."

"Okay…" Wybie followed his friend inside, while muttering, "Wylie? I'm not a coyote…"

**x.X.x**

"This is it?" Alli asked warily.

For some reason, she had expected it to be bigger. Not that it was small. It was fairly medium-sized with a kitchen, dining room, three bedrooms, a living room, a storage area, and two bathrooms.

"Our other house was bigger," she muttered, pointedly eyeing her mother.

Mrs. Woods sighed like she was tired, but didn't reply. She turned to her two children. "Why don't you go and find a room you'd like?" She asked. Max hurried up the steps and Alli sighed but followed.

Alli walked into a random bedroom upstairs. It was medium-sized, big enough for her bed and her postcard collection, definitely. She explored every crack in the room before wandering over to the window seat and gazing out the window.

It looked so awful outside. The sky was gray, and fog was collecting across the lawn. It was dreary. It was _dead. _She could just make out the woods that they had passed on the way here on the skirts of the land. There was a pink barn on the side of the lawn, too. Hmm. Well, that's kind of interesting.

But still. She'd rather have a beach.

Alli drew the curtains back, staring back around her room, deciding places where her books and postcard collection and bed would go. She decided that the room was nice.

But her old room had been better.

She sighed. She was already missing her old friends in California…especially Jake. She pulled her ENV3 cell phone out of her back pocket and sent a text to Jake saying, "Hey. I just got to Oregon, and I already miss you. It's so boring here."

She didn't get a reply.

"Ugh." The only thing that could make her feel good right now was…she climbed down the stairs and poked her head into the kitchen. "Hey, Mom, do you think we could go to the mall tomorrow?"

Olivia sighed. "Alli, I'm busy right now. Shouldn't you be doing homework or something?" She busily began typing on her laptop again. Another part of why they had moved there was because she had gotten a job as a realtor.

"Mom, I've got two and a half weeks!" the twelve-year-old cried indignantly.

"Alli, I _said_ I'm busy. Why don't you go and bother your brother or something." Olivia waved her hand.

The words stung. _Hard. _Seriously? Did she really _bother _her mom that much? Alli drew in a shaky breath. "Fine." She turned around and began to walk back up the stairs, before she stopped at the landing. "This is the reason Dad left, you know." She said it softly, but she made her voice loud enough for her mom to hear.

Olivia slammed her fist down on the table and wrenched her head to the right to face her daughter. Alli flinched. "ALLISON GRACE WOODS, GO TO YOUR ROOM RIGHT NOW AND DON'T EVEN _THINK_ ABOUT COMING OUT!" Olivia screeched at the top of her lungs. Alli scowled and stomped up the steps, slamming the door shut with a mighty _thud._

Olivia closed her eyes and let out a long sigh, then continued typing, pushing back her tears.

**X.x.X**

**A/N: **Ta-da! What do you think about my OCs? Good? Bad? Cheesy? REVIEW. (:

And yeah, I know. Pretty long chapter, but this story has a lot of those – just a warning.

Songs Mentioned in this Chapter (copy and paste links into the URL bar thingy without spaces):

**The Only Exception – Paramore:**

http :/ /www. youtube. com/ watch?v=gYY0k34ukFY

**The Best Day – Taylor Swift:**

http :/ www. youtube. com/ watch?v=memsP8-k5Ew

**Changes – Butterfly Boucher & David Bowie:**

http :/ www. youtube. com/ watch?v=E6xxgNTaiQs

**I DO NOT OWN THESE SONGS, OR THESE VIDEOS!**


	3. Meet the Neighbors

**Chapter 2:  
Meet the Neighbors**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Coraline (or its characters), PS2, the wonderful invention of the television, Hollister, Ke$ha, American Eagle, or the Chuck Taylor company (or whatever it's called).

**X.x.X**

Coraline and Wybie sat on the couch in the Jones' living room, playing a video game called _Gory Monsters _on the PS2. Everyone claimed it was the scariest thing alive, but the two friends had definitely seen scarier.

Wybie's grandmother had decided to let Wybie go into Coraline's house after they had told his grandmother about how she had defeated the Beldam – but she still didn't let him go in often.

After a while, they both got tired of playing the game and turned the TV off, heading out back into the garden. It looked extremely beautiful ever since Mel and Charlie had fixed it up, with Coraline's help, of course. The beets that Mr. B had been stuffing into the ground had been removed, of course, and replaced with tulips.

"The new girl seems kind of bratty," Coraline remarked, sitting on the bench by the tulips.

Wybie smirked. "Yeah. She reminds me of _you _when you first moved in."

Coraline rolled her eyes. "I was _not _like that," she said indignantly. "I got your name right, didn't I?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Why-were-you-born? Right," Wybie said sarcastically, lifting an eyebrow.

Coraline glared at him but laughed.

"_Wyborne!_" The sound of Wybie's grandmother's voice stretched from all the way across the block. Wybie sighed. "I'll see ya around, Jonesy," he said, standing up and heading out of the garden.

"Bye." Coraline called. As Wybie disappeared into the trees, Coraline sighed and played with a piece of grass. She threw the grass away and then stood up, walked around the garden a few times, examining the tulips, and then exited the garden and headed back inside. When she entered the kitchen, she saw her mother preparing pizza in the microwave and couldn't help but smile. About a month ago, Coraline had finally put her foot down about Charlie's cooking, and had introduced them to a new thing, called "drive thrus" and "take-outs." "Hey, Mom," Coraline said as she flopped into the chair at the kitchen table.

"Hello, Coraline," Mel Jones said, punching numbers into the microwave.

"Hey, my little garden tulip," Coraline's dad greeted her from at the kitchen table. Coraline groaned and rolled her eyes. 'Garden tulip' was his new nickname for her.

_Well, at least it's better than dizzy dreamer,_ she thought dryly.

"How was work?" was Coraline's usual reply.

"Tough, but capable," Mel Jones admitted, turning around. "We're having some issues with this edition of the catalog. How was the new neighbor?"

Coraline shrugged. "Well…." Her parents stared at her expectantly. "She seems a little bratty." 

Mel lifted an eyebrow. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, I mean, she acted all grumpy and she got my name wrong. She got Wybie's name wrong, too," Coraline explained. She didn't add that she was wearing preppy Hollister clothes, because she knew Mel would roll her eyes and say something along the lines of: "What you wear doesn't make you who you are, Coraline."

_Please. She should meet Ke$ha._

"Now, don't judge a person by their…uh…mispronunciations," Coraline's dad set the newspaper down and leaned back to look at Coraline. "She may've just been in a bad mood."

"You were, when we first moved here," Mel reminded her daughter.

"Still," muttered Coraline.

"Anyway," Mel continued. "I was asking because I was thinking – since Charlie and I didn't get to meet the neighbors – we should invite them over for dinner sometime."

"Really?" Coraline asked, a little uncertain, making a "I'm-not-very-happy-about-this" face.

"It's going to happen, so there's no use complaining about it," Mel snapped before Coraline could say anything else.

"I guess," Coraline muttered. Then she asked, "Could Wybie come?"

"Um…I'm not sure that's a good idea." Mel set a plate of pizza in front of her.

"Mom, he's not going to break anything. He was over today, any he didn't do anything." Coraline added.

Mel shifted slightly. "We'll see."

Coraline sighed and popped her piece of pizza in her mouth.

**X.x.X**

"Dinner?" Wybie Lovat polished his motor bike down with a rag. He looked up at Coraline suspiciously. The two friends were in Wybie's back yard, Coraline sitting on a tree stump, stroking Cat's back, who was on the ground beside her. "Uh-huh," she replied, scratching Cat's ears. "With my _mom's_ cooking. Thank goodness," she added.

After some persuading, Coraline's mom had agreed to let Wybie come, much to her relief, which was why she was telling him about the dinner. "I dunno. I thought you said she was bratty?" Wybie asked.

Coraline rolled her eyes. "I didn't say she was bratty. I said I thoughtshe _might _be bratty."

Wybie snorted. "Same thing."

"Whatever," Coraline replied. "But it can't hurt, I guess," she concluded. "Maybe she was just having a bad day," she said, remembering what her dad had said.

Wybie shrugged. "I don't know. I'd have to ask Gramma," he rolled his eyes.

"That's fine," Coraline agreed. "So, wanna go play _Gory Monsters?_"

**X.x.X**

Alli soon discovered that there were four flats in the Pink Palace. The one at the bottom had originally been a basement, but was now owned my Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, two old ladies who had used to be actresses.

The second flat was taken up by the Jones family, which had been half of the "house" flat when the apartments were just a house.

The third flat was across from the Jones' flat, and that, of course, was theirs – it was the other half of the "house" flat.

And the fourth flat belonged to a tall blue man who liked to do gymnastics and had a secret mouse circus, although Alli found this extremely hard to believe. Most likely the man was a lunatic. His flat was in the attic portion of the apartments.

Alli sat in the living room on the couch from their old house, reading a boring book about a fairy who tries to trick people. It was Shakespeare, she was pretty sure, and she was finding it hard to concentrate on, especially with Max making '_vrrrooooom!' _and '_honk honk!_' noises with his trucks. The other day, the Moving Men had moved all their stuff in, so now, Alli had a bed to sleep in, and the room she had claimed was officially hers.

Hurray.

Finally Alli gave up and tossed the book on the floor, letting out a groan.

"Mom, can't you _please_ tell Max to _shut up?_" Alli begged.

Olivia looked up from her paperwork on the kitchen table and glared sternly at her daughter. "Alli, watch your language," she warned her.

Alli sighed. She and her mom were still on rocky ground from the fight yesterday. "I'm going to my room," she muttered, getting off the couch.

"Why don't you get some fresh air for once?" Olivia suggested. "Or you could visit the neighbors."

Alli stopped in front of the opening to the hallway and turned around to face her mom, who was staring at the notebook in front of her, not making eye contact with her daughter. "You mean those old ladies, the crazy man, and that blue haired girl?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh-huh." Mrs. Wood replied, sipping her coffee.

Alli snorted and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right," she said rudely.

Olivia rolled her eyes at her daughter. "Why do you have to be so negative?" she asked. "Just give them a chance. You need to do _something _other than sit your lazy butt on the couch all day!"

Alli opened her mouth, then closed it, a little surprised at her mom's outburst. She'd never really talked to her in that way before. Finally she groaned. "Fine." She marched down the hall, yanking her pink rain jacket off the hook by the door, and throwing it on, stepping outside and into the cold, dead air. It was a chilly December and it was so windy that her dark hair was blowing, even in the pink hood shielding her face.

She was wearing a navy blue American Eagle shirt with some blue jeans and black Chuck Taylor high-tops with neon blue shoelaces. She went down the steps two at a time until she reached the bottom and stood in front of the Pink Palace Apartments. The apartments looked the same as yesterday – big, ugly, and in desperate need of a new paint job. Not that Alli didn't like the color pink, but this was _way _too much.

"Mrrrow!" Alli shrieked and glanced down. A black cat sat at her feet. It was skinny, and sort of ugly, with its big, blue, bug-eyes staring up at her, almost never blinking…but Alli loved cats, and couldn't help but think that in away, this one was kind of cute, and in a way, it reminded her of Sam – even though it looked nothing like him.

"Hey," she whispered softly, leaning down to scratch the cat behind its ears.

"Mrrrow!" the cat leapt away and pranced down the street.

"Fine!" Alli shouted. "Be that way! See if I care!"

She sighed, and she could see her breath – a cloud of gray. Kind of like her life.

Alli closed her eyes, forcing herself to calm down. Her mom was right. She _was _negative. She opened them again and glanced towards the basement. "SPINK & FORCIBLE", the sign read, with a red arrow pointing towards the basement.

"Hmm." She said aloud. _Better than weird Hair Girl and the crazy man, _she decided. She took the steps two at a time and hesitated before knocking. First, there was silence. Then…_bark, bark, bark! _She leapt back in surprise as three little dogs leapt up at the door, their ugly little noses leaving marks on the window. A short, old lady with slightly pink hair (_What is it with all these weird hair colors? _Alli thought) answered it. As soon as the door was wide open the dogs leapt out and began trying to jump on top of her. Alli cringed and tried swatting them away.

She hated dogs.

The pink haired lady leaned forwards and grabbed her dogs, shoving them back in the house. "Sorry about that," the lady said apologetically. "You must be the new neighbor's daughter. I'm Miss Spink," the woman held her hand out, and Alli shook it.

"Alli Wood," she replied.

"Would you like to come in?" Miss Spink asked, opening the door a little bit, but not a lot, so the dogs couldn't get out.

"Um, sure," Alli stepped inside, taking her pink raincoat off, once again, the dogs mobbed her, and Alli cringed again. "You needn't worry about the dogs, dear. They're quite harmless," Miss Spink explained.

One of the dogs growled at Alli, and she scooted away.

"No! Bad, Jock the Third! Bad!" Miss Spink frowned, wagging her finger in the dog's face. It whimpered, its tail between its legs, and trudged away.

_Harmless? Yeah, right._

"Sorry," Miss Spink apologized again. "You do like tea, don't you?" asked Miss Spink.

"Um, yeah," Alli lied. She actually hated tea, but she didn't want to say so.

"Good, because Miriam and I were just about to have some. Miriam! Get another tea cup, would you?" Miss Spink called as they passed the kitchen. Alli let her eyes wander around the room – there were a bunch of revealing posters of old plays hanging up on the walls.

Ew.

"What for?" a woman entered the room, and Alli's eyes widened. _Speaking of revealing…_

"Our new neighbor, Alison Wood, is here to visit." Miss Spink replied. _Why did she say my full name? _Alli wondered.

"Oh, really? Well, it's not often we get a visitor." The other woman, who Alli assumed was Miss Forcible, disappeared back into the kitchen.

"Sit down right here," Miss Spink motioned to the couch, and Alli obliged, setting her pink raincoat beside her. She let her eyes gaze around the room again. There were some big stuffed dogs up on shelves on the side of the wall. They looked real, too.

"Do you collect them?" Alli asked, referring to the dogs.

Miss Spink followed her eyes, and just laughed.

She decided not to ask why.

Miss Forcible returned with a tray of tea and set it down on the coffee table. "Would you like some sugar?" Miss Forcible asked, holding up the sugar bowl.

"Um, no thanks," Alli said, a little uncomfortable. "To be honest…I'm not really in the mood for tea right now." She cleared her throat, trying to sound as polite as possible, and then attempted to make herself look surprised. "You know what I just realized? My mom needs help with unpacking….and, er…stuff." _Lame. _The two old ladies blinked, looking a little confused. "And I promised I'd help her…I, uhm, guess I should go now." She hopped up, a little more quickly than she meant to.

Miss Forcible frowned. "Oh. Alright, then," she said disappointedly.

"It was…um…great meeting you," Alli said awkwardly, stuffing herself into her raincoat.

"Come back and visit soon, okay, dear?" Miss Spink said.

"Sure," Alli lied, getting up and nearly tripping over a dog as she left the flat.

_What weird old ladies, _Alli thought, shaking her head climbing up the steps until she was standing in front of the building again. She decided to go to Mr. Bobinsky's flat, since she'd already met Hair Girl, who was probably mad that she had cut her off the other day.

She looked at the door hesitantly, and then she knocked and waited. Nothing happened. She knocked again. Still, nothing happened. She looked around for a doorbell but found none. Shrugging, she turned around to leave, but as she did, two hands reached out to grab her, making her let out a shrill scream.

"Ah!" said the person who had lunged for her. He stood behind Alli, his hands on his hips. To her utter surprise, his skin was blue and he had hair almost anywhere – a mustache, under his armpits, on his chest…ew. She decided to stop looking. "You are de new neighbor girl, Allison!" the man said in a Russian accent.

"Um, actually, it's _Alli,_" she corrected him. She also noticed that he smelled and she inched away from him.

"Well, Alli, it's a pleasure to meet you. I am the amazing Mr. Bobinsky!" He suddenly leapt high over her head and landed on the bar on the balcony. "But you can call me Mr. B. Because I already know that I am amazing." He did a split on the bar.

"You ask me what I am doing, yes." He said to her. Alli stared at him as if he were nuts. "Why, I am simply doing morning exercises. It helps build strength. My mouse circus must do exercise too, but they, they do different exercise. They do music exercise. Because, you see, Allison, I am training a JUMPING mice circus. But they also play music." He jumped high into the air and held onto the roof.

_When did he start calling me Allison again?_

"They do not do their music right, though," Mr. B explained. "Why, I don't know. I switched them to different cheese but no, they do not play right music. Perhaps I work them too hard, do you think?" He lifted his leg straight up, set it down, and then lifted up the other one. Then he flipped in mid-air and landed at Alli's feet.

"They are very smart mice, though, you know," he said. "They talk about you. They think you are in danger, I believe. But they are very mixed up. They get your name wrong you know. They call you 'Alli' instead of 'Allison.' Or maybe they call you 'Allison' instead of 'Alli'…Yes, I think perhaps I _do_ work them too hard. And maybe myself, also."

Alli just stared at him.

"You know, it's very odd…nearly the same thing happened when Caroline moved here."

Alli raised an eyebrow, finally able to get a word in. "Caroline?"

"Little blue haired girl," Mr. Bobinsky explained in his thick accent. "Quite skinny, that girl. Could use a good meal…you have met this girl, no?"

"Yes, I have." Alli said flatly.

"You ask how I am so fit, yes. It is because of the beets. Here." Quickly changing the subject, he stopped his exercise and reached into his pocket to pull out a red beet and dropped it into her hands. "They make you strong. Now if you excuse me, I must be going now. My mice circus is waiting. But if you ever need me, ring my bell, above de door, see?" He pointed to it and Rachel followed his gaze. "That one. But as of now," he kicked the door open with his foot. "_Das Vidania, _Allison! Or is it Alli…?" Then he went inside the door and closed it behind him.

Alli just stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. Finally, she shook her head. "Yup. He's a lunatic." She tossed the beet off the balcony, and watched it soar into a bush, then climbed back down the steps, until she was standing right where she had started.

She stood in front of the Pink Palace Apartments once more. _Why are there so many crazies_ _here? _Alli thought, rolling her eyes. Sighing, she headed back around to the back where her own flat was.

"That was quick. Did you have a good time?" Mrs. Wood sat at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper – she'd been at work that morning, so she hadn't really had time to read it in the morning.

"Uh-huh," Alli lied as she sat back down on the couch, flipping on the TV and picking up the Shakespeare book.

"Did you go visit the Jones family?" Mrs. Wood asked.

"Uh-huh," Alli lied after hesitating, opening the book.

"Were they nice, do you think?" Mrs. Wood asked, flipping the page of the newspaper.

"Sure," Alli lied, scanning the page of her book.

"Good because today Mrs. Jones invited us over for dinner tomorrow night. The Lovats will be attending too. Mrs. Lovat owns these apartments, by the way." Olivia explained, not looking up from the newspaper.

Alli set the book down and turned to face her mother, her eyebrows raised.

"Luckily, the Jones' have a girl your age and the Lovats have a boy your age. Isn't that great?" Mrs. Wood still didn't look up.

"Uh-huh. Just great," Alli muttered. And suddenly, she was having a sinking feeling about tomorrow night.

**x.X.x**

**A/N: **Haha, sorry. I just had to add the part about Ke$ha in there. No offence to her or anything, I love Ke$ha!

Also, if you see the name "Rachel" in there anywhere, that's a typo. I've changed Alli's name so many times, and one of her previous names was Rachel. So yeah, sorry about that!

**To all Narnia fans:** I'm writing an "OC-goes-to-Narnia" story, but I'm trying to make it as interesting, funny, and unlike all the other "OC-in-Narnia" fanfics, so if you have any ideas on how to make that possible, PM me, cuz I'm having a little trouble, heh heh. And I also have a poll up on my profile on whether the story should be set in LWW (mostly movie-verse), PC (mostly movie-verse), and VDT (book and movie-verse – a little more book-verse though).

MERRY CHRITMAS! :D

Review (:


	4. The Dinner

**CHAPTER 3:  
The Dinner**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Coraline, or Holes. Which is a really good book that I should probably read again. There are a lot of things I should probably read again…

**X.x.X**

That night, Alli had the oddest dream. She dreamt that in the middle of the night she woke up to a lovely stream of music. And it was coming outside.

It was as though she was mesmerized by the music. This was beautiful – she'd never heard anything like it. She felt as though she were in a trance. The music seemed to be beckoning to her, so she stood up and crept down the stairs, making less noise than a mouse, and squeezed through the front door, but not before grabbing the bag with all their swimming stuff and boots by the door. Why she did this, she didn't know – all she knew is that she had to find the person who was making the music.

She walked onward past the Pink Palace Apartments, past Wybie's house, and past Cat watching her suspiciously. She walked down the old pathway and up a hill and came to a final stop in front of a wooden circle in the ground. Using all of her energy, Alli lifted up the wooden circle and heaved it aside. Searching through the swimming bag, she pulled out a pair of goggles and snorkel and pulled out a long piece of rope. She tied it to her waist and tied the other end to a sturdy root sticking out to the ground. Then, in one great moment, she jumped.

Seconds later, she pulled herself out of the well, her hand clutching a black key with a button shape at the top. Then she made her way back to her house, and deposited the key on her bedside table.

And then Alli woke up.

"That was weird," she declared, sitting up in bed. She glanced over at the alarm clock. 4:30. Groaning, Alli went back to sleep. At 9:00 when she awoke, she didn't notice the black key with a button shape at the top on her bedside table. And even if she had, she wouldn't have known what it was – for as soon as she woke up she forgot all of the other night's 'dream.'

**X.x.X**

"Coraline, have you finished cleaning out your room?" Mrs. Jones called up to her blue-haired daughter who was in her room reading Holes. While Coraline wasn't the 'reading' type, it was an astounding good book and she couldn't seem to put it down. And, after all, it was required reading for seventh grade. She figured, why not?

Coraline sighed in frustration. "Yes, Mom," she called down the steps, setting the book in her lap.

"Well come downstairs and clean out the living room! I want the house to look spotless when the new family gets here!" Mel cried back.

Coraline scowled. She had almost forgotten. Sighing, she closed the book, heaved herself off the bed, and marched out of her room, slamming the door closed.

**X.x.X**

"Alli, have you finished unpacking?" Mrs. Wood called from the kitchen.

Alli sat alone in the room she had chosen. Max was in the kitchen, eating a snack, but she wasn't hungry. Instead, she was writing in her notebook. She would never admit it to anybody, but she loved to write and make up stories, especially about magical worlds, or alternate universes. The brunette sighed, gazing out the dreary window. "No!" She called back to her mother.

"Well hurry up! I want you to finish by the time we have to go to the Jones' house for dinner!" Mrs. Wood replied, sounding frustrated.

Alli groaned. She had almost forgotten about the dinner.

"Fine," she growled, shoving her notebook and pen under her bed and putting on her jacket and sneakers to get her suitcase out of the van – she'd "forgotten" to take it out all this time. She hopped down the steps and stepped into the driveway, opening the trunk of the van. Apparently she wasn't the only one to forget to take out her suitcase; she found her mom's suitcase on top, unopened.

_Hypocrite. _

With a mighty tug, she pulled her suitcase out from under her mom's, stumbling backwards. The suitcase landed with a heavy thud at her feet. With a mighty slam, she closed the trunk and lugged her suitcase back into the flat. She sat back down on her bed and immediately began taking things out – hairbrush, shampoo, acne cleansing bottle, postcard collection, scrapbook…

Alli suddenly stopped as she looked down upon the object lying at the very bottom of her suitcase.

It was a doll.

She stared at it, shocked. Because it wasn't just any doll. The doll looked exactly like her. It had her jacket, her high-tops, her blue jeans, and her medium-length dark hair. The only difference was that it had huge, coal-black button eyes.

"How'd you get in here?" Alli wondered aloud, picking the doll up. She had never had a doll like this before they moved here. Maybe her mom or dad had packed it for her… "Hey Mom," Alli stood up and poked her head into the kitchen. "Did you or dad pack a doll for me in my suitcase?"

"No," Mrs. Wood looked up, lifting an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Alli replied casually, and headed back into her room.

"Maybe one of my friends packed it," she wondered aloud. She'd text them later and ask. I suppose I could keep it – for a little while, she decided, picking the doll up and setting it on her pillow. She put all of the things in her suitcase in a corner. Then she pulled out her notebook and began writing again.

**X.x.X**

Alli, Max, and Olivia approached the Jones' flat. "Now I want you to be on your best behavior," Olivia declared as they stepped on the front porch. "That goes for you too, Alli," she said, giving her daughter the evil eye.

Alli sighed, then hesitantly nodded, rolling her eyes on the inside.

"And you too, Max," she ruffled the seven-year-old's hair.

"I don't think I have a best behavior," Max replied, smirking. **(A/N: Who knows where that quote comes from?) **

Olivia laughed, and Alli snorted, rolling her eyes. Olivia rang the doorbell and almost immediately Mrs. Jones opened the door. She had short black hair styled into a bob, and pale skin, with large brown eyes that looked slightly weary. But she smiled when she saw them at the door, if it looked a little forced. Alli was under the impression that maybe it wasn't Mrs. Jones's idea to have them over for dinner. If it was, she looked as though she might be regretting it. "Come on in," she said, sounding cheery and stepping aside.

"Thank you for inviting us over," replied Olivia as the three of them stepped inside the house. "I'm Olivia Wood, by the way," she shook hands with Mrs. Jones. "And this is my daughter, Alli, and my son, Max," she gestured to her two children.

"I'm Melissa Jones, but you can call me Mel." Mel explained, introducing herself. "My husband Charlie is in his study, but he'll join us for dinner in a little while. The den is this way," she said, and the Wood family followed her into a parlor with a sofa and chairs and a table filled with crackers and dip. The blue-haired girl and the hunch-back were sitting together on the sofa with an old lady in between them. "This is my daughter, Coraline, and these are our neighbors, Wybie Lovat and his grandmother, Mrs. Lovat."

"You can call me Jen," Mrs. Lovat replied, smiling.

"Oh, I love the name Jen," Olivia Wood declared. "I used to have a friend in high school named Jen, too."

Mrs. Lovat thanked her. Alli rolled her eyes. Her mother was obviously trying her best to make friends with the neighbors – in California, they hadn't done such a good job the first time…

California.

The name sent a sharp twang, but Alli quickly pushed the feeling aside.

"Have a seat anywhere you like," Mrs. Jones said, motioning to the chairs. Alli promptly sat in one not too close to Hair Girl and Hunchback, but not too far from them, either. She didn't want to be rude, after all, no matter how many awful thoughts she thought about them. Unfortunately, her plan to avoid them wasn't going to work, because almost as soon as Alli sat down, Mrs. Jones suggested, "Coraline, Wybie, you should show Max and Alli the rest of the flat."

Max grinned. "I want to see it!" He said.

Everyone turned to stare at Coraline, who, at first, didn't look so excited about the idea. Well, at least I know she doesn't like me very much, either, Alli thought. Quickly, Coraline mustered a smile. "Sure. C'mon, Wybie," she said to the hunchback, who stood up. Alli sighed and stood up and followed Hair Girl and Hunchback out of the den, and as soon as they left, she could hear the grown-ups start their own conversation.

Coraline lead them down the hallway. "That's the kitchen," she said flatly, sticking her thumb towards the kitchen. "And down that way is my dad's study. And here's the closet with the hot water heater and all that junk."

Coraline then lead the way up the stairs in silence.

"So…" Alli began awkwardly. Even though she didn't want to be there, she decided to make the best of it and start up a conversation. "How old is this house?"

"150 years old," both Wybie and Coraline answered at the same time. Coraline glanced at him, lifting an eyebrow. Wybie just shrugged.

"Oh," Alli said softly so they couldn't hear. "Are there…like…rats and spiders?"

Coraline snorted. "Rats and spiders are the worst of your fears," she said softly.

Alli lifted an eyebrow, sincerely curious. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Coraline shook her head, turning her back to Alli. "Nothing," she said as she continued down the hall. Alli glanced at Max, but he was preoccupied by staring at everything as though it were candy, which obviously he had too much of that morning, considering the way he was jumping up and down.

"What's in here?" Max pointed to a door near the end of the hallway.

Coraline stepped forward and opened the door. Alli peered inside; all she saw were boxes and a few cobwebs. "It's the closet." Coraline explained.

"Cool!" Max cried with delight.

Wybie threw him a quizzical look, and Coraline just raised her eyebrows. "Someone's had too much sugar…" she said. Alli couldn't help but smirk, and they continued the tour. "This is my room," Coraline said, opening the door to a room with drab wallpaper and a drab bed and a few…Toys? Alli thought. That's a little babyish.

"And this is my mom's room," Coraline said, opening the door to her mom's room. "And this way is the storage room," she nodded down the hall. "But I'm not going to show you that, obviously, because it's just a storage room…" Her voice trailed off, and she cleared her throat. "Other than that, that's pretty much it."

The four of them stood in the hallway awkwardly. "Now what?" asked Max.

"I guess we go back downstairs," Wybie suggested. Coraline shrugged and everyone followed her down the steps. As they walked through the hallway, Alli skidded to a stop and noticed the one room that Coraline hadn't showed them. It was filled with furniture and a couple of old things. "Hey, what's this room?" She asked, filled with curiosity.

Coraline turned a little pale, but then immediately relaxed. "Nothing. Just the drawing room."

"What's a drawing room?" Max asked.

"It's just a living room," Wybie explained.

"Then why don't you just call it a den?" Max demanded.

"I don't know…"

"What all do you keep in here?" asked Alli, stepping inside the room. She knew it was a little nosy – but it was just a drawing room, right? It's not like they kept the dead bodies of all the victims they'd killed over the past years in there…

Or did they?

She scanned the room – it was just a den, like Wybie had said. There was a fireplace, a coffee table, and a collection of snow globes on the mantle. Nothing interesting…

Except for the little door in the corner.

"What's that?" Alli asked, pointing to it.

"Nothing!" Coraline nearly screamed, practically jumping in front of Alli's view to the door.

Alli raised an eyebrow, racking her brain for a good comeback. "You know, the first sign to becoming sane is admitting you have a problem."

Coraline rolled her eyes, letting out a breath. "Sorry. Uhm…I haven't had much sleep. And I stayed up late last night watching Friday the 13th…" Coraline rolled her eyes again. "Not a good idea."

Alli raised her eyebrow, not buying the excuse.

"Anyway, there isn't anything behind the door – it's just a wall. I'd let you check, but I lost the key."

"That doesn't make any sense. It has to go somewhere," Alli countered.

"It used to," Coraline explained. "It used to lead to your flat, when this place was a regular house. But when they turned it into apartments they sealed up the door with bricks."

"But why is the door so small?" Alli wanted to know.

"I don't know," Coraline snapped. "It's just a door."

"She – she's telling the truth. There's nothing there, honest," Wybie piped up, enthusiastic. Too enthusiastic. Almost like he was hiding something.

Alli raised an eyebrow. "I don't believe you," she finally declared.

"Fine." Coraline said coolly, shrugging. But in her eyes, Alli saw something…was it fear?

Alli glanced between the two friends. Coraline maintained her cool stature, but Wybie had fear in his eyes – again, almost like he was hiding something. "Is this some trick?" She narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Coraline and Wybie didn't answer. "It is, isn't it? This just a dumb trick to fool the new girl! I bet you've been plotting this since I moved in! Oh yeah, your so cool. Trying to –"

"It's not a trick," Coraline interjected, rolling her eyes. "We're being serious."

"No, you're not. Your hiding something, and I can see it in your eyes, and I swear to Go –"

"Dude, just chill out," Coraline held up her hands in surrender. "It's just a door."

"That's what I should be saying to you!" Alli cried. "You're the one that practically jumped on top of me trying to stop me from touching it!"

"I did not," Coraline rolled her eyes. "Come on, my mom's waiting for us to have dinner." She grabbed Alli's arm, but she yanked her arm away.

"Don't touch me," Alli commanded, glaring at the blue-haired girl.

Coraline smirked, looking smug and superior, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I think I just did," she declared.

"H-hey, guys, c'mon, let's not fight!" Wybie stammered, grabbing both of the girls' arms. They yanked away, both glaring at him and he backed up, and they turned their gazes back to each other, arms crossed, and eyes narrowed.

"Alli, Mommy says you're not supposed to be mean!" Max whined from behind the two girls.

"Shut up, Max," snapped the eleven-year-old, not really paying attention. Max whimpered and ran away. Coraline and Alli said nothing, glaring at each other, not moving, while Wybie stood to the side, watching awkwardly, but knowing better than to say anything. In fact, the two girls didn't move or say anything until the three grown-ups entered the room.

"Alli, what did you do?" Mrs. Wood cried, holding onto her son, who had tears in his eyes – fake, no doubt.

"Coraline, what did you do?" Mrs. Jones asked in unison, her hands on her hips.

The two mothers looked at each other, surprised.

"Sorry Mom," Both Alli and Coraline said at the same time, looking away.

"Hey, what's going on out here?" A tall man that slightly resembled a giraffe came out of the door that Coraline had called her father's study. He was holding a mug of coffee.

Mrs. Jones sighed. "Well…let's just have dinner. It's in the dining room." Giving one another a final glare, Coraline and Rachel followed Mrs. Jones into the dining room. They both sat as far away from each other as possible.

Halfway through the meal, Alli spoke up and said, "If you don't mind, I need to use the restroom."

"Coraline, would you show our guest where the bathroom is?" Mrs. Jones asked, firmly emphasizing the 'guest.'

"Why? She knows where it is," Coraline retorted.

"Coraline…" Mrs. Jones warned.

"It's okay, Mrs. Jones, I can go by myself," said Alli, firmly, standing up and shoving her chair back. Coraline rolled her eyes as Alli exited the dining room.

As soon as Alli was out, she smiled. It wasn't the bathroom she wanted to see – she wanted to go into the drawing room. She was going to open that door. She knew they were trying to trick her, and once she saw the trick, they certainly wouldn't be playing anymore tricks on her in a long time.

Plus, she did kind of have to go to the bathroom, too.

She steadily but quietly walked into the drawing room, and approached the little door, dropping on her hands and needs and trying, in vain, to open it.

No use. It was locked.

Alli scowled and hit the door with frustration.

"I thought you'd be in here," said a smart-alecky voice. Alli jumped and whipped around to face Coraline, her arms crossed over her chest.

"How do you get the door open?" Alli blurted out.

Coraline arched her eyebrows, surprised. "W-why?" She stuttered, turning a little pale.

"So I can see what trick you're trying to plan on me, and I can get back at you for it," Alli replied simply, rolling her eyes.

Coraline sighed. "I told you, there isn't a trick. And that door is made from really old wood, you know. My mom hates it when people touch it, because she's afraid it will cave in or something. That's why I don't want you near it." Alli hesitated, wondering whether to believe her or not. "And you have to open it with a key. And I told you, I lost it…about a year ago."

Alli rolled her eyes, "Whatever."

Coraline shrugged. "I didn't ask you to believe me. To be honest, I really don't care what you think."

Alli shot her eyebrows up, surprised – to be honest, no one had ever talked to like that. And she'd never given anyone reason to – she stayed away from all the dorks (people like Coraline and Wybie) at school, and had never been mean to them or anything. There was just something about Coraline that made her, well, angry.

"I used to know someone like you, back in Michigan. She thought she was so cool," Coraline explained, rolling her eyes. "Well, she wasn't after everyone back-stabbed her and left her with no friends…" her voice trailed off, and she smirked at Alli's rage. "By the way, the bathroom's at the other end of the hallway."

Alli rolled her eyes back. "I know where the bathroom is," she hissed with venom. Truthfully, she didn't, but she wasn't going to give her the satisfaction. Coraline turned around and started to head back into the dining room. "I used to know a girl like you in California! And she never had any friends to begin with!" Alli screamed after her.

"Whatever!" Coraline called back.

There was a long stretch of silence after the door to the dining room closed. "Augh!" Alli kicked at the door in frustration. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"I hate that girl."

**x.X.x**

As soon as everyone had left, Mel turned on her daughter, her expression cross. "What did you say to that girl?" she demanded, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"I didn't say anything!" Coraline protested. "She was snooping through our stuff!"

"That doesn't give you permission to be rude," Mrs. Jones replied. "I bet the new family thinks we're crazy, now!"

"Good, then maybe they won't come back!" Coraline spun on her heels and marched back up the steps and into her room. Coraline scowled in the darkness as she fell into her bed. "That doesn't give you permission to be rude," she mimicked in a soft voice. "What does she know?" She rolled her eyes.

Suddenly she heard thunder not too far away, and lightning soon followed it. As the thunderstorm grew louder and louder, Coraline couldn't help but think – why had Alli been so curious about the drawing room? Coraline's stomach jolted as she realized that she, too, had been curious about the little door when she had first moved into the house.

She began to panic. What if the Other Mother was back? What if Alli sensed it and Coraline had been too busy trying to get the girl away from the door that she hadn't, either? What if the Other Mother still wanted her?

Her heart pounding, she crept out of bed, down the stairs and into the drawing room. She stood stock-still in the middle of it. The room was quiet except for the beating of her heart.

She felt nothing.

She heard nothing.

She smelled nothing.

But just to be safe, Coraline went over to the door, and, taking a deep breath, tried to pry it open with her fingers.

It stayed shut.

With a sigh of relief, Coraline crept back into bed just as the power went out.

**x.X.x**

As soon as the Wood family was back in their flat, Olivia spun to face her daughter with an angry expression. "What did you say to that girl?" she demanded, her hands on her hips.

"I didn't say anything!" Alli protested. "She was being a snot and acting like she owned the place!"

"That's because she does, Alli," Olivia sighed. "And that doesn't give you any reason to be rude," Olivia replied firmly. "They probably think that we're crazy!"

"Good!" Alli huffed. "Then maybe we'll never see them!" Then she marched up the stairs and back to her room, slamming the door shut.

She wrote during the thunderstorm, using her bedside table lamp as light. Finally, just as lightning crashed against the ground, all the lights went out. Alli heard her little brother squeal down the hall and she rolled her eyes and groped around her bedside table for her flashlight. She felt a soft object (probably the doll) and shoved it away. Her elbow knocked into something and she felt it land softly in her lap. Finally her hand closed around the flash-light and she shone the light into her lap to see what had landed.

In her lap was a coal-black key shaped like a button.

Alli's eyes widened, surprised.

"_I lost the key…about a year ago."_

…But no. It couldn't be.

Could it?

**A/N: End of chapter 3! Personally, I love this chapter… (: Review!**


	5. Behind the Little Door

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Coraline or any of it's characters – that belongs to Neil Gaiman and Henry Selick. I also don't own _A Midsummer Night's Dream, _William Shakespeare, Verizon Wireless, or the LG Cosmos.

**CHAPTER 4:**

**BEHIND THE LITTLE DOOR**

Alli decided to keep the key.

It wasn't as if it was _wrong _to keep it. She hadn't stolen it, had she?

She decided to keep the key in her pocket. She had a weird feeling about it – like someone was going to take it from her.

Which was crazy…but still.

And yes, she _did _know how cheesy that sounded in her head.

She was sprawled across the couch in the living room, but she wasn't writing this time. She was reading her _A Midsummer Night's Dream _book, in peace and quiet, but even then it was hard to concentrate. Why didn't Shakespeare use _English? _

She heard the sound of the door opening and peered over the couch to see her mother walking in the door, her arms full of grocery bags, and her brother tailing behind her.

"Alli, could you help me with these?" Olivia's voice was muffled through the bags. Sighing, Alli heaved herself off the couch and took two bags from her mother and set her on the table.

"Thanks," Olivia muttered, sounding distracted and not at all as though she meant it. "Now where did I put it…" she scanned the counter and searched over the table, looking as though she were looking for something. Max rushed off to his room and Alli stood in the doorway, hands in her back jeans pockets, waiting for her mom to ask her to do something else. She usually did.

"Here they are!" She picked up her keys on the kitchen table and stuffed them in her pocket. She looked up and saw Alli. "Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you – I talked to your math teacher for this year today, Mr. Waldrop. Very nice man – very polite. He wanted me to tell you that you needed to complete pages 63 through 65, all odd numbers, in your algebra textbook by the end of the break."

"But I don't _have _my algebra textbook," Alli reminded her mother.

"I know that, honey," Mrs. Woods said impatiently. "If you would let me finish, I'd tell you." Alli sighed, but let her mother continue. "So, I told him we didn't have the book and he asked if we could lend one from you. Lucky for us, both Coraline _and _the boy with the frizzy hair are in your math class, so I suggest you lend it from one of them."

Alli groaned. The thought of being in that house with her _again _made her a little nauseous. "Do I _have _to?" she whined.

Mrs. Woods raised her eyebrows. "Alli? I didn't ask for a daughter with an attitude, you know. You need to shape up," she reminded her. "Or else – and I mean it – you can go out the door and find someone else to live with."

Alli huffed and snapped, "Fine. I'll borrow the stupid textbook from her," she muttered. Sighing, she grabbed her Aeropostale hoodie off of the coat rack and slipped into a pair of rain-boots, and then marched out the door, mud sloshing all over her jeans. She rang the doorbell and waited, impatiently, out on the front stoop.

Luckily she didn't have to wait long. Mrs. Jones came to the door in a few minutes. "Oh, hi. Alli, right?" Alli nodded. "Sorry, Coraline is out at –"

"I'm not here to see Coraline," Alli interrupted. "I need to borrow our math book. Me and Coraline are in the same math class, and Mr. Waldrop assigned us winter break homework in it and we don't have ours yet."

"Oh," Mrs. Jones said. "Coraline's room is up the stairs and to the left – you should find it up there. Don't be afraid to move some things around, but put them back where you find them. Her room is messy enough as it is." Alli shrugged in reply. "Well, I'll be in the kitchen. Call me if you can't find it." And she walked away.

Alli, trying to remember manners unless she wanted to go 'out the door', took off her boots and placed them by the door, and walked inside. She walked past the kitchen and paused in front of the stairs before an idea lit up in her head. Coraline wasn't home and her mother was busy – who was to stop her from having another look in the drawing room again?

And no. She was _not _obsessed.

She was just very curious.

And she really did want to get Coraline in trouble.

But she wasn't obsessed.

Not at all.

Quickly but quietly, she dashed off in that direction and bent down in front of the door.

She tried prying the door open again. Once again, it was locked.

_The key has to be here somewhere, _thought Alli to herself as she stood up again. She began hurriedly checking all over the room, on the mantels, on the sofa, on the table, in the corners, everywhere. But a key was no where to be seen. Sighing, she stooped to the ground and examined the lock, just as she felt a vibrate in her pocket. She reached in and pulled out her _LG Cosmos, _but she didn't have a new text or anything.

_Huh, weird._

She slid her phone back in her pocket, her fingers bumping against something round and slightly cold.

The key.

Tentatively, she pulled it out of her pocket, and stared at it, and then at the little door. Then, slowly – just to see what would happen – she inserted the key in the lock.

_Clunk._

In awe, Alli slowly twisted the key.

The little door swung open to reveal a blue and purple tye-dyed tunnel that seemed to stretch on forever. Alli gasped and nearly fell over from shock. All she could do was sit there for a while, unable to move. Slowly, a smirk lit up her face. "I knew she was lying," she whispered.

And, not even hesitating a second longer, she crawled into the tunnel.

**A/N: **So, this chapter is kind of short…it was only three pages long in Microsoft Word. It's a bit of a filler…but I'm going to be out of town this weekend so I figured I'd leave you all with SOMETHING to read. :) Review 


	6. The Other Mother

**CHAPTER 5:  
THE OTHER MOTHER**

**A/N: **Sooo….Yeah, this is really late. Sorry!

But, for right now, I'm going to answer some of the reviews that I don't think I personally responded to:

**Jennifer - (Anonymous) (12/26/2010):**

**that was amazing now im excited for the book and movie to come out i love coraline im a big fan i take notes when i read and watch coraline to understand it better thankyou for this little summary on what happened**

Um…the book and the movie are already out? The book came out a long time ago, and the movie came out in 2009…and I didn't write a summary…but thanks?

**Sifu Toph - (Anonymous) (1/21/2011):**

**I really like this story. It's nice to see someone finally doing something with the other flat/apartment at the Pink Palace. Your prose is pretty well written too, and the canon characters are wonderfully in character, and that counts for a lot.**

Thanks! That means a lot! (:

**Sifu Toph - (Anonymous) (1/27/2011):**

**It was indeed short, but I enjoyed it all the same. I actually like that you are taking your time with this, slowly building up all the elements so that they will pay off, and big, in the future. **

**And I actually laughed at the wish that Shakespeare would use English. It sounds completely in-character for a kid.**

Well, thanks! And haha, yeah. I have a hard time reading Shakespeare even now… :)

** - (Anonymous) (1/30/2011)**

**I think u update slow chapter 4 was in 2009 its 2011 hurry up before people ditch ur story sorry but telling it like it is**

Um, no…chapter 4 was put up in 2011…

**Nausicaa of the Spirits - (1/31/2011)**

**Funny you should mention Alli's original name was gonna be Rachel, because when I did a rewrite of the movie, I had Coraline have a little sister named Rachel.**

If you're trying to say I'm "stealing" your story, I'm definitely not, soo…

**Emily S - (Anonymous) (4/09/2011)**

**(I seen the movie about Coraline.) OH, NO! THE LITTLE DOOR IS OPEN. THE OTHER MOTHER! Alli have the key. The Other Mother is evil & stealing all the childrens. So, Allie went the wall way deep hole. & Alli got the key for little door. But Coraline was telling the truth. But Alli don't believe Her. Do Coraline to save Alli? The Other Mother will put Alli's eyes for buttons. Alli went the Other World.**

…what?

Anyway, thanks for all the reviews! You guys are awesome! Hope you like this chapter!

**x.X.x**

Alli stood at the end of the tunnel, staring around her in confusion. This was odd….how did she get back inside her own flat? Maybe it was a secret passageway…

_So, I can get in and out of Coraline's flat, huh? Well that could possibly be useful. _Alli smirked. The family would think that they had a poltergeist or something; but really, it would just be her. And, she could do this without anyone knowing – except, of course, Coraline.

Alli frowned. That's why Coraline had kept her away from the door – she didn't want her sneaking into her house. Although she couldn't blame her, she still thought it was rude.

She frowned harder. But how did the key fit in? There was no possible way that it could've ended up on her bedside table – unless Coraline had given it to her to scare her? No, that couldn't be it, either.

Alli shook her head. She didn't have time for thinking. She had to get back to Coraline's flat before Mrs. Jones realized she was gone – and of course, if her mother found her, she'd probably wonder how she had got in, and of course she'd have to show her the little door and everything would be ruined. She bent down to crawl back down the tunnel but then heard footsteps come up behind her.

_Crap._

Since the room was dark, if she kept still, it was possible that whoever was behind her (probably her mom, since she was in her own flat) wouldn't see her. The footsteps stopped, and there was silence. Curious, Alli turned around.

No one was there.

Confused, Alli tip-toed to the front of the drawing room and peered down the hallway, and what she saw made her gasp.

The wallpaper had been totally rearranged. Instead of the pale, bleak yellow it was an emerald green color. Alli glanced back towards the door and realized that the drawing room, too, had been redecorated – the wallpaper was the same as the one in the hall. "What the…?" Alli muttered, staring at her surroundings. But before she could finish her sentence, she heard humming coming from down the hallway. She stepped back into the hallway again – everything was in its place. The only thing changed was the wallpaper.

_I may not be making A's in science, but there's no way someone can re-arrange the wallpaper of a whole house in five minutes, _Alli thought confusedly.

The humming continued. It was a high, feminine sounding voice. The only problem was, Alli's mom didn't hum. Or sing. Or even dance. She was a _horrible _singer; even Olivia admitted it, and she _definitely_ wasn't exaggerating. But the humming coming from down the hallway actually sounded _good. _It was almost angelic sounding, but eerie at the same time. And it also sounded familiar…like she'd heard it on a movie or had a friend hum it or something.

"Mom?" Alli called lightly as she began to walk tentatively down the hallway. Something smelled good, and it certainly wasn't the usual frozen pizza or take-out. She followed the aroma and the music to the kitchen door, which was shut, with a sliver of light shining from the bottom of the door.

_Cliché, much? _Alli bit her lip and rolled her eyes. It looked like a poster for a horror movie.

Only this wasn't a scary movie, it was her life. It was her _house. _Even if it looked different.

Right?

So, taking a deep breath, she pushed the kitchen door open.

Her mother's figure stood by the kitchen sink, dicing tomatoes, and humming. She was wearing denim jeans with a gray t-shirt and an apron tied around her waist. Her long, brown hair was wavy and cascaded down her back instead of being stuffed into its messy ponytail.

Another thing about her mom?

She couldn't cook.

Also, she noticed that the kitchen, instead of its original bleak yellow, was violet-purple, and the drab blue-and-white checkered curtains had transformed into white lace. Through the parting of the curtains, she could see darkness, almost like it was night-time…and last time she checked, it was only one o'clock.

_What the heck…_

Alli cleared her throat. "Uh…mom? What's going on?"

Her mother turned around and what Alli saw made her gasp and step backwards, startled.

This woman was not her mother.

Sure, she looked like her – she had her mother's long brown hair and dimpled smile – she even had the middle-part in her hair that drove Alli absolutely insane. But what was different was that she looked pretty – much prettier than her real mother.

And instead of her dark brown eyes she had dark, coal black buttons.

_Maybe I am in a horror movie._

"Alli, dear! I'm so glad you've decided to join us for dinner!" The Mrs. Woods look-a-like grinned even harder, her black button eyes gleaming.

Alli opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She was too petrified to say anything. All she could do was stare at the black buttons that were planted on her mom's face.

Plus, her mom _never _called her dear. Olivia refused to call her older children pet names – it wasn't because she was mean, she just didn't see a need to.

"Well? Are you going to come in? You look like the cat that ate the canary!" She giggled, a tinkling sound, unlike her mother's hyena-like laugh.

Alli began to stutter nonsense words – a habit she had when she was afraid and confused at the same time. The Olivia Imposter chuckled, as if Alli's babbling was amusing. "Who are you?" Alli finally stammered out.

"I'm your mother, dear," the look-a-like replied, still beaming.

"_Don't _call me that," Alli snapped quickly, her voice shaky. "My mom _never _calls me that, and you definitely aren't my mom. My mom doesn't…" Her voice trailed off and she hesitantly took a step back, pointing to the look-alike's eyes. "My mom doesn't have…_those._"

"You mean my buttons?" She grinned and tapped a finger against them. Alli shivered, and the look-alike giggled. "I'm your other mother, silly," she explained, smiling.

Alli blinked. "M-my what?"

"I'm your Other Mother, sweetie. Don't tell me you've never heard of it. Everyone has one."

"I've never heard of an other mother…" Alli said suspiciously, lifting an eyebrow.

"Well, here I am. I'm standing here, aren't I?" she laughed again. "Close your mouth, darling. You'll catch flies." She turned around and faced her tomatoes. Alli glanced at the oven – the green light was on, meaning that she was baking something. "Would you get your father for me, please? Tell him dinner's ready. He's up in his study.

"But you and dad uh…were…are…divorced," Alli stuttered, swallowing.

The look-a-like turned around, her eyebrows knitted in confusion. "Divorced? Phil and I have never been divorced…don't know where you got that idea." She smiled and shrugged.

Alli stared at her. "But –" _What the heck is going on?_

"Hurry, Alli! The food's going to start to get cold," The look-a-like smiled, and turned back to dicing her tomatoes.

Alli wanted to point out that since the food was still in the oven, the food wasn't going to get cold anytime soon, but for some reason, her mouth wouldn't function. And neither would her legs. Finally, she spun around and left the kitchen, walking down the hall and rolling her eyes. Most normal people would leave in this situation, but not her. She wanted answers, and she wasn't going to get many if she just straight-up left.

_I'm such an idiot._

But anyway, she was probably dreaming.

As she walked down the hallway she stopped in front of a door that was marked with a golden plaque that read: 'The Study.' "I guess I found it," Alli murmured to herself, and pushed open the door and screamed.

Standing in front of her was a large dinosaur, baring his teeth at her. Alli stood stock still, too afraid to make a noise. It was then that she noticed that the dinosaur had no skin and she sighed in relief, feeling stupid. It wasn't a dinosaur – it was a T-Rex skeleton.

Staring at it curiously, she walked past it and stared around her. The room was extremely large and had no windows. A chandelier hung in its center and she found all sorts of dinosaur skeletons standing around her and a few sand pits with bones inside them.

"Alli? Is that you?"

A voice came from in a sand pit and a man climbed out of the pit, smiling broadly.

He was the same as always. He was short and had lines around his eyes that crinkled when he smiled, and his red hair was hidden with a Red Sox baseball cap. Alli smiled in remembrance; one of her mom's and dad's fights would always be about who was better – Red Sox or Yankee's. Her mom was an avid fan of the Yankee's, and her father worshiped the Red Sox. Alli, on the other hand, hated baseball.

Alli smiled so brightly and was going to run into his arms and hug him like she had when she was a little girl. But then he lifted his chin and she noticed, with dismay, that his eyes were buttons also.

Her smile faded.

"I thought I heard you," he approached the twelve-year-old, wiping his muddy hands on his khaki shorts. "I'm glad to see you've finally arrived."

_Finally?_

Alli smiled weakly.

"Want to see what I've dug up?" he asked excitedly.

"U-um, s-sure," Alli said uncertainly.

"Great. Follow me." Alli hesitantly followed him behind the skeleton of a pterodactyl and gasped at what lay below her in the sand pit. A bone that looked almost as big as the Pink Palace Apartments lay there, piles of sand around it. For a second she wondered how a bone of that size could fit in this room, but the thought made her head hurt. "Isn't it beautiful?" Her fake dad grinned.

"What is it from?" she gasped.

"It's another T-Rex bone. The missing piece," he said, indicating to the T-Rex skeleton and pointing to a missing piece in it's leg. "Want to help me put it up?"

"Uh, sure," Alli said uncomfortably and jumped into the pit after her "father." Using all of her strength she grabbed one end while he grabbed the other and they dragged it over to the skeleton, and using all of her might she shoved it into place.

"Whew!" said her "father" as he wiped his forehead with a dirty rag he had fished out of his khaki shorts. "That was quite a work-out, huh, Teddy?" Alli smiled weakly again but flinched. It felt strange to hear this man call her that, since the only person who called her that was her real father back in California.

"So…are – are you, like, an archaeologist or something?" Alli asked, glancing at another skeleton of a dinosaur standing next to her.

"Sure am," Her look-a-like father grinned broadly.

"But you do all of your work…in here?" Alli looked around the "study", which seemed more like an indoor golf-course with all of the sand-pits.

"Well, yeah. The company sends me these huge packages of sand for me to look through and see if there's any bones in there. The best part is that I get to be around your mother." He beamed again. "And you, of course."

_Creeper. _

"So, is there any reason you came down here to see me?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," Alli said, remembering. "Um…_she_ said that the food was ready."

"Great!" Alli's "father" clapped his hands and beamed. "Your mother is a fabulous cook!" _She's not my mother! _Alli wanted to scream, but she kept her mouth shut. "Well, let's go!"

Alli followed her fake father out of the room and down the hallway and into the dining room. Suddenly, Alli remembered something.

Once, when she was ten, she was sad because word had gotten out around her school that her secret dream was to be a dancer. The problem was, back then, she was a huge klutz – and she still sort of was. Her dad had come into her room to comfort her. "You know what? My secret dream was to be an archaeologist. But the thing is, I get sweaty really quick. Imagine how sweaty I'd be working under the hot sun for hours a day?" She remembered her dad sitting at the edge of her bed, smiling broadly. "Everyone has a secret dream that doesn't exactly make sense. You're not the only one."

After he had succeeded in cheering her up, she had said, "It's too bad that archaeologists can't work indoors."

Alli was the only person that her Dad told about his secret dream.

The thought made her freeze in her tracks. Ahead of her, her "dad" stopped, too, and looked back, curiously. "Everything alright?"

_This is so _weird.

"Er, yeah," Alli stuttered. "I-I'm fine."

Alli stepped into the dining room to find a feast fit for a king on the long kitchen table. Alli widened her eyes, just now realizing how hungry she was – she hadn't eaten breakfast, and it was almost an hour after lunch, and she hadn't eaten that, either. Sitting around the table was her mother's look-a-like, two empty chairs, and an unknown person sitting in the chair closest to her.

The unknown person turned around in his seat and grinned at her, making Alli almost fall over in shock. It was her brother – except he wasn't. He looked exactly like the one back at home – the dirty blonde hair, the mischievous grin – except he, too, like everyone else had button eyes.

Alli skidded to a stop in the doorway, her eyes wide.

"Sit down, won't you, Alli?" her "mother" called from the front of the table, smiling. "We're having chicken parmesean." Alli, still in a daze, sat down in the empty seat between her mother and brother and across from her father.

Alli stared at her food and, as her "mother" had said, was chicken parmesean. Back in California, one of her favorite restaurants had been Margarita's, and every time she went there, she would order the chicken parmesean meal. But now that she was here, she wasn't sure she wanted to eat some food from some psycho button-eyed family she didn't know.

_Why am I here again? _

Slowly, Alli slid into the empty seat at the head of the table. Food was already sitting on her plate. Despite her growling stomach, Alli didn't touch it – which took a _lot _of strength, mind you. "So…" Alli began slowly. "You're all part of my "Other Family", or something?"

"Sure are," Her Other Mother flashed another brilliant smile. She propped her chin up with her right hand and Alli realized that was the only hand she had. Her left one was missing. All that was left was a stub. Alli shuddered slightly. The idea was pretty creepy.

"What's with the…" Alli shifted in her seat uncomfortably and pointed to her eye.

"The buttons, you mean?" The Other Mother asked. Alli nodded. "Oh, I've always loved to sew. And I've always loved buttons. I used to collect them you know," the Other Mother grinned. "I'd never had a use to them. Until, well, now of course." Alli smiled weakly, her stomach flipping over in disgust. "But buttons are just so much more unique. They come in far more colors than regular eyes do. Don't you agree?"

"I guess," Alli shifted in her seat. "So…this house…it's exactly like the one at home?"

"Oh no, dear. It's much better." The look-a-like said, grinning, a gleam in her button eyes – if that was possible. "You're welcome to explore with your brother in a while." Her Other Brother waved to her. "But first, eat your food."

"Uhm." Alli glanced down at her food suspiciously. "I don't know. Maybe."

Her "Other Mother" smiled. "Well, don't just sit there. Eat something, why don't you?"

As if on cue, Alli's stomach grumbled. She smiled weakly. "Well, maybe I'll have a little bit…" Hesitantly, she picked up her fork and lightly stabbed a piece of chicken parmesean. _Please don't let this be poisoned. _Slowly, she raised the fork to her mouth and took a tentative bite. Once she realized it probably wasn't poisoned, she took another, bigger bite. Her eyes widened. "This is _good!_"

"I told you," her Other Father said, grinning.

"Mom makes the best food," Other Max agreed.

Alli nodded and continued shoveling lasagna into her mouth. Then she began eating her roll. Finally her plate was clean.

"Anything else you need?" asked the Other Mother.

"Well…" Alli thought for a while. "I am pretty thirsty," she admitted finally.

"Well, of course you are!" the Other Mother laughed again and she snapped her fingers. As if on cue the chandelier descended downwards in front of her and she gazed in surprise at the many choices she had.

"Um…do you have…chocolate milk?" asked Alli. Again, as if on cue, the chandelier twirled and a tube with brown liquid stopped in front of her. She raised her glass and let the chocolate milk pour inside the cup and then stopped it. The chandelier automatically rose up again. Alli sipped from the glass. It, too, was fantastic.

"And let's not forget dessert!" The Other Mother grinned and the Other Father disappeared into the kitchen and returned again with a chocolate cake with vanilla icing with twelve candles in a circle around it. He set it down in front of her, and as if it were magic, the twelve candles lit up and written in pink frosting were the words: 'Welcome home, Alli!'

Her stomach flipped again and she set down her chocolate milk hesitantly. "Home?" Alli asked weakly, glancing up.

"We've been waiting for you, Alli," the Other Mother grinned and moved over to stand behind her, one arm around her husband and her son leaning against her, as she had no other hand to use.

_Creepy, much? _Ally couldn't help but think. "For me?" Alli asked, surprised. "Why?"

"Because we love you, darling," the Other Mother replied.

"It wasn't the same without you," Max agreed, grinning.

"But you don't even –" Alli began, but was cut off when something jumped into her lap, making her gasp slightly. She glanced down and saw a gray-and-white tabby cat staring back at her with unblinking button eyes.

"S-Sammy?" Alli whispered, raising her eyebrows.

The look-a-like cat purred and stretched its neck as if wanting to be purred. Uncertain, Alli began to stroke its back. It purred again. _This isn't Sammy,_ Alli reminded herself. _It's a look-a-like. There's something wrong here. There's something _very_ wrong._

But she couldn't help think about how much this cat reminded her of Sammy, who she would possibly never see again. How even the chicken parmesean at Margarita's couldn't even compare to the chicken parmesean she'd had tonight. And how she hadn't felt this good since she left California.

"I like it here," Alli spoke softly, smiling slightly.

"We're glad," the Other Mother said, grinning broadly.

"But," Alli picked up the cat and set it on the floor, standing up. "I need to be getting back. I'd be in so much trouble if my mom found out I was gone…" her voice trailed off.

"But you will be coming back, won't you?" the Other Mother asked hopefully…a little too hopefully.

Alli decided to ignore the desperateness in the look-a-like's voice. "Yes, I will," Alli agreed, completely honest. "I'll – I'll try and come back tonight. But – I really need to be getting back." She glanced into the drawing room. "Is it just through the little door?"

"Just through the little door," the Other Mother replied in a sing-song voice, grinning cheerily.

"And I can only get in through Coraline's flat, but not my own, right?" Alli asked, raising an eyebrow.

The Other Mother flinched at Coraline's name but Alli didn't notice. "That's right," the Other Mother answered smoothly, smiling. "Hurry back darling!"

"Don't worry," Alli promised, smiling slightly. "I will."

And she went into the little door, climbed down the tunnel, and climbed out of the other end and into Coraline's flat.

**x.X.x**

**A/N: **

**Sorry if it was sort of long…**

**Review!**

**(P.S. How many of you watch iCarly? If you do, did you see Saturday's episode, iOMG? OHMIGOSHHH. Pretty epic, man…)**


	7. MSN Instant Messaging

**A/N: **I know, I know, I know. I'm an awful person for not updating since…like, January. But, the thing is, I had the whole story saved on one computer. But then, my dad replaced that computer with a new one. So all summer, the computer was sitting in my basement, but we didn't exactly get around to hooking it back up and getting all my documents and stories and stuff out of it until August. Then, it turned out I couldn't upload this story onto another computer, because I made this story with MS 2010, and all our other computers have MS 2007. So, I had to upload it to the laptop, which is my parents, so I rarely get to use it.

And I didn't get around doing that until…today.

I know, I'm lazy and my excuse is dumb, but…yeah. Hey, at least I updated!

Now that I actually HAVE this story where I can actually update it, I'll TRY to update a little more frequently. Hey, maybe I'll update another chapter this weekend? We'll see.

I'm soooooooo sorry!

Anyways, read and review.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own MSN Instant Messenger, Facebook, Hollister, or Coraline.

**CHAPTER 6:  
MSN INSTANT MESSAGING**

"Mom, I'm home!" Coraline stepped into the house. She had been out with Wybie and Cat looking for banana slugs.

"I'm in the kitchen!" Mel called back. Coraline kicked off her boots and hung her rain jacket and made her way to the kitchen. Despite Mel's promises to redecorate the flat, it still looked the same as it had when the family first moved in – bleak and extremely boring.

As usual, Mel sat at the kitchen table, typing up a new section of the magazine she and her husband worked for. Coraline rolled her eyes. For some reason, her mom was _always _on the computer. _I swear, one of these days she's going to go blind from staring at that screen all day, _Coraline thought to herself, rolling her eyes. In fact, sometimes Coraline half hoped she would. "Hello, Coraline. How was…" Mel's voice trailed off. "What were you out doing?" Miraculously, she turned her head from the laptop to face her daughter.

"Banana slug hunting," Coraline shook her head in disgust.

"I thought you liked doing that," responded Mel, turning back to the laptop. _So much for that._

"Not really," Coraline replied truthfully. "Only when there's nothing to do."

"Oh yeah, Alli was here earlier," Mel said, changing the subject randomly, making Coraline wonder if she had even been paying attention.

Coraline made a face – luckily, her mom didn't see. "Why?"

"She needed to borrow your textbook," Mel replied, sipping her coffee mug and then continuing her work on the laptop again.

Coraline dropped into a chair at the kitchen table. "Why?" she asked.

Mel shrugged. "I don't know – school work?"

"Which textbook?"

Mel let out an exasperated sigh. "Does it matter?" she asked. "Why do you have to ask so many questions?"

"Sorrrrryyy," Coraline muttered, raising her hands defensively. Bored, she began absent-mindedly playing with the pencil at the table. Then an idea struck her head. "She didn't go into the drawing room, did she?"

"Coraline!" Mel said angrily, but before she could scold her daughter she was already flying out of the room and into the drawing room. She collapsed in front of the little door, examining it. Taking a deep breath, she tried prying it open. Once again, it was bolted shut.

Coraline shook her head. She was being silly. How could Alli possibly open the door? She didn't have the key. That was impossible. Sighing with relief, she left the drawing room, not looking back.

**x.X.x**

Later that night Coraline leaned back in bed, the laptop open in front of her. She had snuck downstairs to the kitchen earlier and had gotten it to bring up to her room. She wasn't really a computer person – in fact, the only thing she did on the computer was check her Facebook (rarely) and get on MSN Instant Messenger, which was what she was doing now. She scanned her contacts for someone who was on and noticed that Wybie was. She clicked on his name.

_**CORaline_J has signed on. **_

_**Wybie19970 has signed on. **_

**CORaline_J [9:30 PM]:** hey

**Wybie19970 [9:30 PM]:** hey jonesy.

**CORaline_J [9:30 PM]:** hav I ever told u how stupid ur IM name is?

**Wybie19970 [9:30 PM]:** yeah, every time I get on…  
and urs is stupid-er!

**CORaline_J [9:31 PM]:** ummmm no. jealous?  
and btw, stupider isn't a word.

**Wybie19970 [9:31 PM]:** no!  
and btw, it is too.

**CORaline_J [9:31 PM]:** at least mine is CREATIVE…unlike urs.

**Wybie19970 [9:31 PM]:** mine is creative!

**CORaline_J [9:32 PM]:** dude. Its ur name and the year u were born, plus a 0.

**Wybie19970 [9:32 PM]: **soooo?

**CORaline_J [9:32 PM]:** so, i rest my case.

**Wybie19970 [9:32 PM]: **ur screenname has ur name in it 2, u know.

**CORaline_J [9:32 PM]: **yes, but, unlike urs, mine has at least an OUNCE of creativity.

**Wybie19970 [9:32 PM]: **WHATEVER.

**CORaline_J [9:32 PM]: **:D

**Wybie19970 [9:32 PM]: **soooo…

**Wybie19970 [9:33 PM]: **heard anything from that alli girl?

**CORaline_J [9:33 PM]: **no, thank goodness.  
well, she did come over 2day.  
while we were gone.

**Wybie19970 [9:33 PM]:** y?

**CORaline_J [9:33 PM]:** 2 borrow my textbook.

**Wybie19970 [9:33 PM]:** oh  
Did she go near the…you know…

**CORaline_J [9:33 PM]:** the door?  
I don't think so.  
It was locked

**Wybie19970 [9:34 PM]:** good.  
hey, I gtg, my grandma's calling me off the computer  
:P  
bye.

**CORaline_J [9:35 PM]:** bye wybourne.

_**Wybie 19970 has signed off. **_

Coraline scrolled through her list of contacts again and noticed that Lucy was on. She clicked on her name.

_**CORaline_J has signed on. **_

_**Yankees-Fan122 has signed on. **_

**CORaline_J [9:37 PM]:** hey lucy

**Yankees-Fan122 [9:37 PM]:** hey coraline

**CORaline_J [9:37 PM]:** watchya doin?

**Yankees-Fan122 [9:38 PM]:** Homework :P  
what about u?

**CORaline_J [9:38 PM]:** hahaha i haven't even started my hw.  
& nothing.

**Yankees-Fan122 [9:38 PM]:** kool

**CORaline_J [9:38 PM]:** not really

**Yankees-Fan122 [9:38 PM]:** its an expression, coraline. :P

**CORaline_J [9:38 PM]:** I knowwww.  
I just hate it when people do that  
Like 'my dog just exploded!'  
'oh, kool'

**Yankees-Fan122 [9:39 PM]:** hahaha what the heck?  
u have a weird mind, coraline jones…  
lol.  
what have you been up to?

**CORaline_J [9:39 PM]:** not as weird as yours!  
and nothing :/  
What about u?

**Yankees-Fan122 [9:39 PM]:** nothing? Seriously?  
& I went to my grandparents in NC.

**CORaline_J [9:39 PM]:** whats that?

**Yankees-Fan122 [9:40 PM]:** north carolina, dummy.

**CORaline_J [9:40 PM]:** rude.  
& yep, im serious.  
nooooothing.  
i guess coraline jones's life isn't as interesting as u thought it was ;)

**Yankees-Fan122 [9:40 PM]:** c'mon. you've done NOTHING over break yet?

**CORaline_J [9:41 PM]: **well I mean ive gone outside & stuff w/ Wybie.

**Yankees-Fan122 [9:41 PM]: **slug hunting? ;)

**CORaline_J [9:41 PM]: **.  
yes.

**Yankees-Fan122 [9:42 PM]: **hahaha!  
sux 4 uuuuuu

**CORaline_J [9:42 PM]: **hahaha, very funny. :P  
but yeah other than that, i havent been doing muchhh.

**Yankees-Fan122 [9:42 PM]: **wowww, you've got one boring life. ;P

**CORaline_J [9:42 PM]: **well, a new girl DID move in the flat nxt 2 us…  
shes going 2 school with us after break.

**Yankees-Fan122 [9:42 PM]: **that's fun!

**CORaline_J [9:42 PM]: **HAHAHA not.

**Yankees-Fan122 [9:42 PM]: **uh-oh.  
whats wrong w/ her?

**CORaline_J [9:42 PM]: **well, 4 starters, she has a HUGE attitude problem + shes REALLY bratty, & shes a huge snob. And I think if we have any classes 2gether nxt semester I might die.  
im already about to kill myself from seeing her almost every day. 

**Yankees-Fan122 [9:43 PM: **plz, im sure shes not THAT bad.

**CORaline_J [9:43 PM]: **haha, just wait till u meet her.

**Yankees-Fan122 [9:43 PM]: **well, as much as id love 2 make sarcastic comments & talk about snotty nosy neighbors, ive gotta go 2 bed.. :P Bye!

**CORaline_J [9:43 PM]: **bye.

_**Yankees-Fan 122 has signed off.**_

Coraline scanned her contacts again. Everyone was off-line – most likely in bed. Coraline sighed, signed off, and closed the laptop. She'd put it down in the kitchen later.

She, however, wasn't going to bed. She reached under her bed, looking for _Holes_, when her hand bumped into something else. She picked up the object and brought it up for her to see, shining the bedside lamp on it.

It was her math textbook.

The one that Alli had supposedly borrowed.

**A/N: **Okay, so, this was a little bit of a filler chapter. But I needed a way for Coraline to figure out (sort of) what Alli was up to and I needed to make it longer, and I really wanted to throw Lucy (my OC) in there, soooo, here it is. I'll try to update as soon as possible! Sorry for procrastinating. :P Review please!


	8. The Other Others

**A/N: **After a year, you find out I'm still alive and I'm still writing...I'm sorry, you guys. I just have been really lazy and I've had a really sucky year...I can relate to Alli a lot, lot, lot more now, which is a good thing I guess, but...my parents split up in June. Although I'm not saying that's my reason for not writing because it's really not, I would appreciate it if y'all kept me in your thoughts. Thanks.

RECAP: Alli has just moved to the Pink Palace Apartments in Oregon, and she hates it there. All she wants is for her parents to get back together so she can move back to California to be with her friends, her dad, and her cat Sam, all of which she left behind. Plus, everything in Oregon is weird - the rainy weather, her eccentric neighbors, and Coraline and Wybie's (who she absolutely despise) immaturity and horrible sense of fashion. Not to mention the fact that she found a doll in her suitcase that looks exactly like her, which no one in her family has ever seen before.

Things get a lot better though when Coraline's mother invites Alli's family over for dinner and Alli discovers the strange little door in the drawing room of Coraline's flat. She's strangely drawn to it. And although Coraline claims it's been locked ever since they moved in and the key had been lost, Alli finds a creepy button-shaped key on her bedside table in the middle of the night, and it feels like she's seen this key before.

When she goes over to Coraline's house later to borrow her math textbook, she decides to test out the button key on the little door. The door swings open and leads to a parallel world where, despite the creepy button eyes, everything is much, much better. Her parents are still married, her little brother isn't quite as annoying, her mother seems to care about her again, and the Other Pink Palace Apartments aren't as old and smelly. Alli reluctantly leaves the Other World, but promises to come back soon.

Last chapter, Coraline was instant messaging Wybie and her friend Lucy about how much of a brat she thought Alli was. As she was getting ready to go to bed, she found her math textbook beneath her bed - the same one that her mother had told her that Alli borrowed. Coraline's suspicions towards the new girl are now even stronger.

**CHAPTER 7:**

**THE OTHER OTHERS**

1:58.

_Come on, come on,_ Alli thought impatiently, her eyes glued to the clock. _Just two more minutes…come on, come on!_

Her room was enclosed in darkness. In fact, the only light at all came from a little moonlight drifting through the window and the glow of the clock on her bedside table.

The light from the window illuminated the shelf placed on the other side of the room that held her collection of postcards, and next to it, her closet, filled with only name brands, of course. Especially Hollister.

Next to it was her bookshelf, which was filled with the books she had brought from home…every single one of them. Alli was a very avid reader, which she usually kept a secret. In fact, not many people knew this about her, except for her family and her two best friends from California. _The Count of Monte Cristo, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Princess Bride,_ _Les Miserables, _and not to mention the countless others. Next to that stood her dresser, and then a trunk full of old clothes that her mother had yet figured out what to do with. And then, of course, was her bed. It was shabby, Alli decided. Definitely nothing like her room in California.

Alli began to wonder what her room in the Other World looked like, which caused her eyes to drift back to the clock again.

Still 1:58.

One of Alli's favorite things to do was sleep, so it had been hard to stay up this late. But she absolutely had to go back to the Other World. It had been the most fun she'd had since she found out about the divorce. In fact, the entire time she had been in the Other World, she'd only thought about the divorce twice. Which was a record for her. That was why she needed to go back, now.

1:59, now. _One more minute,_ Alli thought, her stomach churning with excitement. _Come on, come on!_

Alli had gone to bed at 9:00, and set her alarm clock for 12:30 AM, the time her mom usually went to bed. At exactly 12:30, she slowly woke up, sitting silently on her bed and waiting for all the lights in the flat to be turned off. Then, making sure to be extra quiet, she'd grabbed a drawstring bag with her old school's logo on it and began to fill it with stuff she thought she might need for the Other World (a flashlight, extra batteries, her baseball cap, an old hoodie, a Swiss Army knife she'd stolen from Max's room, and her iPod and cell phone).

After she'd left Coraline's house that afternoon, she automatically began to search for an easy way to get inside her house without being seen. Luckily, she found that the lowest first story window was kept unlocked, and if she piled about three cinder blocks beneath it, she could easily wriggle inside without making a noise.

Alli kept her eyes strained on her alarm clock. She was just beginning to wonder whether it was broken when the time switched to 2:00.

_Yes!_ Alli sprang into action, grabbing her drawstring bag off the floor and stuffing the key inside her back pocket. She pulled her UCLA crew neck over her head that perfectly blended in with the night sky and tied on her dark gray Nike tennis shoes. She stepped in front of the mirror and examined herself. She was rather silly looking: almost like she was getting ready to go on a spy mission or something. Not to mention her dark brown hair was a mess. She quickly tossed a brush inside her bag - who knows? Maybe there were some cute boys in the Other World, too.

Quietly, she slid the door to her bedroom open. As she had hoped, the flat was completely silent. She tiptoed down the hallway, quickly disabled the alarm - 1904 - and quietly slipped outside.

She paused on the front porch a moment to make sure no one was outside. Once she was sure that she was alone, she stole across the front lawn and creeped around the side of the house where the pile of cinder blocks were. She picked up one of them and carried them towards the first floor window, setting it down gently beneath it. She went back to grab the next one and came to stack it on top of the other one, and let out a small scream, dropping the brick with a thud.

Sitting on the cinder block beneath the window was the black cat, it's yellow eyes gleaming and its tail swishing quickly back and forth. "Oh my God!" Alli breathed out, placing a hand on her rapidly beating heart. "Dumb cat. Don't you know not to scare people?" She bent over and picked up the brick, approaching the cat. "Shoo," she said, waving her hand.

The cat just stared up at her with unblinking eyes.

Alli sighed, frustrated. "C'mon, cat, _move!_" She gently gave the cat a shove and it hissed, but dutifully bounded off the brick. Alli placed the brick in her hands on top of the bottom one. The cat was still there, waving its tail back and forth and staring at her. "What are you looking at?" The cat remained sitting there, seemingly glaring at her. Alli rolled her eyes and grabbed the final brick. When she came back to the pile, the cat was gone. She quickly stacked the final brick on top of the other two.

Tentatively, she placed a foot on top of the pile of bricks. When she realized it was stable, she climbed on top of the stack and gently pried the window open, forcing her body through it. She managed to land in a sink and it occurred to her that this was the kitchen. Scowling, she closed the windows shut with a soft click and climbed out of the sink, wiping her wet butt with a couple of paper towels.

Alli stood quietly, listening for footsteps or other sounds.

The house was completely silent except for the quiet drip of the faucet.

Taking a deep breath, she tip-toed into the drawing room and kneeled on the floor. She took the key out of her pocket and inserted it into the lock. Then, taking a deep breath and crossing her fingers, she swung the door open.

A purple and blue tye-dyed tunnel stretched out before her.  
A broad grin spread over Alli's face and she pocketed the key again, beginning to crawl through the tunnel. She emerged at the end into the Other Drawing Room. It was dark, just as it had been earlier, and, once again, she smelled delicious things coming from the kitchen and also humming (most likely the Other Mother). Grinning to herself, Alli walked down the hallway and into the kitchen.

"Hello, Alli!" The Other Mother smiled brightly and turned around.

"Hi," Alli replied, waving shyly.

"I'm so glad you decided to make it," the Other Mother said cheerfully. "I'm making dinner right now." Alli grinned. The thought of something other than microwaved pizza was always promising. "Why don't you go fetch your father and your brother?"

"Okay," Alli replied. "Uh…where are they?"

"They should be out in the library," said the Other Mother.

Alli's eyebrows shot up. "We have a library?" She asked in surprise.

"Of course we do!" The Other Mother grinned. "Just walk outside, it's hard to miss."

"Alright," Alli said uncertainly, walking out the kitchen door and into the hallway. Since the Other Flat was identical to her own flat, it wasn't hard to find the door. She opened it, fully expecting to find a library sitting in her backyard, but nothing was there. "Huh," Alli said aloud, climbing down the steps. She began to walk around the house towards the other side, and once she had, she gasped.

In front of the house was a huge stone castle, fully equipped with a drawbridge and a moat. Two sets of armor stood by the giant entryway, as if guarding it.

For a moment, all Alli could do is just stare at it, taking in the giant pillars, the wooden drawbridge, and...was that an alligator swimming in the moat? She blinked, and then pinched herself. _Nope. I'm awake, alright._

Slowly, she crossed the giant drawbridge and stopped in front of the giant doors to the castle. Hesitant, she gently yanked on the door. It was locked. Alli sighed, and reached up to bang on the knocker that had a face on it.

"OUCH!" Alli screamed and jumped backwards, searching wildly to see where the noise had come from. "I'm right here, stupid!" She widened her eyes at the knocker, that was now glaring at her. "Don't you know better than to just BANG on someone while they're taking a nap? Sheesh!"

"Er...um..." Alli stuttered out, at a lost for words.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" The knocker mocked.

Alli regained her composure and glared at the knocker. "_No,_" she said stubbornly. "It's just that where I come from, knockers don't talk! And I can see why..." She added as an afterthought.

The knocker glared at her again. "Alright, then, missy. Don't get an attitude with me, I'm just doing my job. After all, this library was built for you. You think you'd be a little more thankful."

"This was built...for _me?_" Alli's eyes widened as she stared up at the giant castle.

"Yeah, yeah, don't go getting a big head about it. Now, what's the password?" The knocker huffed.

Alli bit her lip. "Uh...I don't know the password."

"You don't know the password?" The knocker laughed. "Well that's unfortunate, isn't it? I'm afraid you can't get in."

"But...but you just said this library was built for me!" Alli protested.

"Well yeah. You would think that you would at least know the password to your own library!"

"But I just got here!" Alli cried.

"Alli? Is that you?" Alli spun around to see the Other Max running up towards her, grinning broadly. "I hope Mr. Phil isn't giving you a hard time."

Alli arched her eyebrows. "Mr. Phil?"

"Don't worry about it, he's hard on everyone," said the Other Max as he stood next to her. "Let me guess, he was giving you grief about the password, wasn't he?"

Alli realized that "Mr. Phil" was the door-knocker. She suddenly felt like she was in an Alice in Wonderland story...either that or she was on drugs or something. _Does this world get any weirder? _"Er...yeah," she said lamely.

Other Max turned towards the door knocker...or Mr. Phil. "Three Musketeers," Other Max said, which coincidentally happened to be Alli's favorite type of candy. (She rather liked the book, too.) Mr. Phil grunted and the door immediately swung open, and Other Max smiled and lead Alli in. "He does his job well...a little too well, if you ask me," he chuckled.

But Alli wasn't even listening. She was too busy staring around at the giant castle she had just walked into.

It was huge. There were giant stone lions everywhere, and she couldn't even count the number of stories the library was because it was such a great number. A glass spiral staircase lead up to each story, and there were small study nooks on each story with large plush couches and fancy chandeliers and reading lamps. A huge circular glass elevator was placed in the very middle of the library.

But that wasn't even the best part. The best part was that everywhere she looked, there were books. There was every title you could imagine - every title Alli loved and every title Alli had been dying to read. The entire collection of Sarah Dessen books, the _Harry Potter_ series, _The Chronicles of Narnia_, _The Hunger Games_, _The Sisters Grimm, The Summer I Turned Pretty_ books, the _Uglies_ series, _everything. _

Alli felt like she might faint.

Other Max grinned up at her. "Impressive, huh?" All she could do was nod. "C'mon, let's go find dad...I think he's on the fifteenth floor."

Alli gulped. "_Fifteen?_ How many floors does this library have?"

Other Max shrugged. "I don't know. I can't count very high. I'm only seven."

Alli smirked. "Oh right. I forgot, squirt." Suddenly she stopped. She hadn't called her brother Squirt in...well, she couldn't remember the last time she'd called her brother Squirt. _This isn't your brother, _she reminded herself. _This is just...a better version of him._

Other Max didn't seem to notice anything was amiss, and lead her through the thousands and thousands of books. Alli found that she had trouble keeping up because she kept stopping to look at the titles and say things like, "Oh my gosh this is the best book ever!" or "I've been meaning to read this!"

Finally, they reached the very center of the library where the large glass elevator was. Alli and her other brother stepped inside and Other Max pressed the number "15" on the glass panel. Alli nearly fell over as the elevator immediately shot upwards. She felt her ears popping and it felt like her stomach was leaving her body. The sensation didn't last very long; in about five seconds the elevator had dinged, and the glass doors had slid open to reveal floor 15.

Other Max had to practically drag her down the hallways because she was so distracted by staring at the many books. After what felt like hours of weaving through the many book cases, they reached an alclove with a purple sofa, a coffee table, a reading lamp, and a stuffed turtle.

Alli wasn't really sure why there was a stuffed turtle, but it was cute.

Her Other Father sat, reclining on the purple sofa, flipping through the pages of a hardback book. He immediately looked up when he saw Other Max and Alli, and grinned, setting the book to the side. "Hey, Teddy. Hey, Maxie." He ruffled Other Max's head, who smiled.

"This place...this place is great," Alli said in an awestruck voice, still looking at their surroundings.

The Other Father grinned bigger. "Isn't it? Mother knew you'd like it."

"Was it her idea to build this?" Alli asked, her eyes widened.

"Oh, yeah," Other Max piped up, nodding.

"She knew how much you loved reading, so she wanted to do something special for you," The Other Father explained.

"Wow," Alli said. All she could think was, _My _real _mother would _never _do something like this for me._

She knew it was a horrible thing to say, but still. She couldn't deny the truth.

"So, what's up?" The Other Father asked, standing up and returning the book he'd been reading to a nearby shelf.

"Oh, yeah," said Alli, almost having forgotten what she'd come in the library to do in the first place. "Mo- I mean, the Other Mother says that dinner is ready."

"Excellent! I'm hungry!" said the Other Father, grinning. Alli's lips curled up into a half-smile - her dad was always saying nerdy, scholarly sounding things like 'excellent' or 'outstanding.' She'd almost forgotten that he did that. "How about you, Max?" The Other Father asked, turning to the youngest out of the three of them.

"Yeah, let's go!" The Other Max cried. Suddenly, he turned to Alli, smirking mischievously. "Race ya to the elevator?" He asked, almost hopefully.

Alli's eyebrows furrowed. She and Max (the _real _Max, that was) used to have races all the time. But that was when she was younger and Max wasn't as much of annoying freak, and she could actually run without worrying about looking like an awkward giraffe. But this Other Max wasn't really annoying. In fact, he was kind of cute.

So, sighing, Alli gave in. "You're on," she said, giving him a small grin.

The two kids dashed down the corridor as fast as their legs could carry them.

"Not, fair, you're _way _younger than me," Allie panted once they'd reached the elevator as Max slapped his hand on the 'down' button. "Plus, you know this place better than I do."

"Well, your legs are longer," The Other Max countered. "And it's not my fault you're a sore loser," he giggled.

"Hardy-har-har," Alli rolled her eyes as she and Other Max and Other Father, who had just joined them, stepped inside the glass, round elevator. The doors closed with a 'ding' and it zipped down to the very first floor, where the glass doors opened with another 'ding.'

"How about...I race you to the house?"

"No way," Alli shook her head, still sort of panting. "I am way too tired to-" Before she could even finish her sentence, Other Max was racing out of the elevator and turning around the corner.

"Hey! Wait up! That's not fair!" Alli cried, chasing after him.

The Other Father laughed, rolling his eyes, and walked behind them.

"I let you win, you know," Other Max said to Alli, who stood on the back porch, her arms crossed in front of her chest, smiling smugly.

Alli just laughed and opened up the door, the two of them stepping inside the house.

"_There _you are," said the Other Mother as the two of them entered the kitchen. Suddenly she stopped, staring at Alli curiously and cocking her head to the side. "Why are you smiling like that?" She asked, a small grin on her lips.

Alli shrugged, tucking her hair behind her ear. She hadn't even realized she was smiling. "I don't know. I guess I'm just happy."

The Other Mother smiled widely and Alli smiled back.

"Alright, who's ready to eat?" The Other Father asked, walking into the kitchen and rubbing his hands together, grinning.

"Me!" The Other Max cried, grabbing a seat at the table.

"The food isn't cold, is it?" Alli asked hesitantly, sitting down at the table to the right of the Other Max.

"Cold?" the Other Mother asked, puzzled, and then she laughed. "Oh, no. Food here never gets cold." Alli raised her eyebrows appreciatively as she began to dig in.

"So, Alli, what do you want to do after dinner?" Other Mother asked. "You've got a long time before bedtime."

Alli glanced out the kitchen window and noticed, once again, that it was still dark. "So," Alli asked, swallowing a chicken finger. "it's always dark here?"

"Yep," the Other Father grinned. "Always."

_Weird, _Alli thought, but simply shrugged, dipping her chicken finger into the mustard. "Well…what is there to do?" Alli asked, referring to her Other Mother's question.

"Oh, lots," the Other Mother said. "Hmm, let me think...you could go outside and play with your friends."

"My friends?" Alli asked, raising an eyebrow. She didn't have any friends back in Oregon.

Suddenly the doorbell rang, and the Other Mother beamed. "That _just _might be them..." she said, scraping her chair back to answer the door.

Standing in the doorway were none other than Coraline and Wybie.

But they weren't the same Coraline and Wybie from back home - they were almost completely different. Coraline's hair wasn't blue - it was a dark brown - and she wasn't wearing a tacky raincoat anymore, but instead, a blue jacket and skinny jeans. Wybie stood up straight with tamed hair and a black leather jacket instead of that hideous baggy thing that made him look like a hoodlum.

And, of course, they both had identical coal black button eyes.

"Oh," Alli said slowly, the disappointment obvious from her tone of voice. _Can't I go _anywhere _without you two? _She stood up, walking to the doorway and standing in front of them. "What's up, Other Coraline and Other Wybie?" They didn't answer her, just smiled at her. Alli lifted her eyebrow. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" The look-a-likes still didn't answer her, the creepy-like grin never leaving their faces.

Alli turned to the Other Mother. "What's wrong with them?"

"Oh, nothing's _wrong _with them," the Other Mother assured her. "I just thought that you might would like them more if they talked a little less. So, I fixed them."

_Fixed them? _Alli shoved the thought from her mind, and furrowed her eyebrows together. "So...they can't talk?"

"Nope," the Other Mother grinned.

"At all?"

"That's right," the Other Mother clarified.

Alli looked back at Other Coraline and Other Wybie and raised her eyebrows, impressed. "I like it," she said approvingly.

The Other Mother beamed proudly. "I'm glad. Hey, why don't you three go do something fun?"

"Well, what is there to do?" Alli asked.

"Oh, tons," said the Other Father, looking up from the dinner table. "You could check out the library, or the barn, or play hide and seek around the house..."

"Oh, I've got an idea! Why don't you go to Mr. Bobinsky's or Mrs. Spink and Forcible's?" The Other Mother asked, turning to the three children.

"Oh," Alli said, frowning. Talk to two crazy old ladies or a drunk old blue man? _No thanks._

"I'm sure they'd love to see you...Mr. B always has room at his jumping mouse circus and the ladies are always eager for a wider audience at the theater."

"So there _is _a circus," murmured Alli. She glanced at the two Others who were standing beside her, watching her expectantly. "I mean...I guess we could go upstairs and see Mr. B," Alli agreed, somewhat reluctantly. After all, when would she get another chance to see a jumping mouse circus?

"Great!" The Other Mother clapped her hands together with glee and then ushered the three children out the door. "Take your time," she called - as opposed to "Hurry back", which was what her real mother would have said. Alli grinned to herself.

The walk to Mr. B's was silent, which made Alli feel slightly uncomfortable. Although she was glad that Coraline and Wybie's counterparts weren't as horrible and annoying as they were in real life, she wasn't used to hanging out with someone and not being able to communicate with them. "So..." She began lamely. "Uh...it didn't hurt...did it?" The Others looked at her, their eyes furrowed together in confusion. "You know...when she fixed you?"

Other Wybie shrugged, and instead of answering, Coraline nudged the two of them and pointed up to the dark, vast sky. Alli looked up. A small blue blimp with a large 'B' on the side was floating towards Mr. B's flat. Grinning, Alli raced up the steps with Other Coraline and Wybie chasing after her.

The blimp disappeared through a hole in the door and Alli reached for the doorknob but yelped with surprise when she, Other Wybie, and Other Coraline found themselves spinning vertically on the door and then practically thrown inside the flat.

She glanced around, stumbling to stand up. She'd never seen the inside of Mr. Bobinsky's flat in the real world, but she was sure this one was much better than it's original. There were cannons lined up on either side of the long walkway and at the end was a popcorn machine with a mechanical chicken squawking and letting popcorn fall out of it's butt and into plastic theater popcorn bowls. In real life Alli most likely would've been disgusted by this, but oddly, she wasn't bothered.

Alli cocked her head to the side as she examined one of the cannons. "I wonder what this is…" she murmured and she pushed her foot down on a pedal attached to the cannon. She let out a small squeak of surprise when a cotton candy cone shot out of the cannon. She quickly snatched it out of the air - didn't want it to land on the floor and collect germs - and then pressed her foot one the pedal two more times. Two more cotton candy cones popped out, which Other Coraline and Other Wybie caught.

Suddenly, a voice began to boom from inside the red and yellow striped tent. Glancing somewhat excitedly between the two-look-alikes, Alli crawled under the flap to the tent, the other two quickly following behind her.

Once she was inside, Alli's eyes widened. The tent was _far _bigger on the inside - in fact, it seemed to be almost double the size of the whole flat. Which she knew was impossible - but in this world, she supposed anything could happen. In the center of the tent was the blimp, fluttering high in the air. She recognized the voice booming around her as Mr. B's thick Russian accent. "Ladies and gentlemen," said the Other Mr. B, who was nowhere in sight, "Introducing Mr. Bobinsky's jumping mouse circus!"

As soon as the announcement ended, the blimp exploded, over thirty mice falling out of it and into a formation.

"My name!" Alli cried in surprise.

Sure enough, A-L-L-I was spelled from the mouse's bodies. Alli grinned and clapped giddily. She realized she probably looked like an immature kindergartner, but in all honesty, she didn't really care.

The mice broke from their formation to make a circle and various other shapes, all bouncing to the tune of a drum and trumpet beat that the band mice were playing. The leader mouse seemed to be the one bouncing on a red ball with a yellow star on it.

The mice began bouncing up a spiral tower in the center of the room, the mouse with the red ball leading the others. Once the leader mouse reached the top, he reversed, rolling back down the spiral tower as the mice dove off the tower one by one, moving out of the leader mouse's way. After the tower was completely empty, the tower itself disappeared to reveal none other than Mr. Bobinsky, striking a dramatic pose.

Alli blew a loud, shrill whistle while Other Coraline and Wybie clapped. Alli wondered briefly if the two of them had seen this before but her thoughts were interrupted as the mice began to play their banter again and bounced into the Other Mr. B's sleeves. The last mouse was the leader mouse, who bounced on his red ball to the top of Mr. B and onto the top of his head, which Mr. B covered with his hat. The music stopped, and Mr. B gave a large bow.

Alli jumped up, clapping enthusiastically.

"Did you like?" asked Other Mr. B in his thick Russian accent.

"Duh!" Alli gushed, grinning. "That was so great! I mean...I didn't know what I expected, but it wasn't that! I've never seen anything like that in my entire life! It was so...so..." Alli racked her brain for the appropriate word, but couldn't think of a good enough one to describe what she'd just experienced.

The Other Bobinsky leaned down, smirking slightly. "Ah?" He hinted.

"Amazing!" Alli cried finally, throwing her arms into the air.

The Other Bobinsky laughed, standing up tall. Just like Other Coraline and Other Wybie, The Other Mr. Bobinsky's looks were the same as his real counterpart, but different at the same time. He had the same blue skin, the same skinny arms and legs, but his potbelly had disappeared and was replaced with a broad chest. Instead of his usual attire of a too small stained tank top and too tight gray workout shorts, he was wearing a black suit with gold tassels. And, of course, his eyes were black, shiny buttons.

Surprisingly, Alli found that the button eyes didn't creep her out as much as they had in her last visit.

"Of course it was amazing! My performances are nothing less!" The Other Mr. Bobinsky declared, pumping his chest proudly. "Come back soon, Alli, with your two good friends. Dasvidaniya." Then he bent down to kiss her hand.

"Did you have fun?" asked the Other Mother when Alli returned home, the Other Coraline and Other Wybie right on her heels.

"Oh yeah," Alli nodded. "It was great! They spelled out my name and everything!"

"Mr. B _is _very talented," the Other Father agreed, who was leaning against the kitchen counter, smiling kindly at Alli. She smiled back at him.

"And so are his mice!" Other Max piped up.

Alli yawned, suddenly realizing how late it was - she'd already been in the Other World for about two hours. It must've been at least four thirty in the morning.

"You must be tired," The Other Mother said, frowning at Alli's yawn. "Maybe you should go to bed."

"Where?"

The Other Mother laughed, a tinkling sound. "In your room, silly."

"I have a room?" Alli asked, and immediately felt stupid afterwards. Of course she did. Why wouldn't she have a room?

"Come on, let's go," said the Other Father, moving from his spot against the kitchen counter and walking out of the room and down the hallway. Alli followed him, with the Other Mother, Other Max, Other Coraline, and Other Wybie close behind her.

When Alli opened the door to her room - exactly in the place it was in the real world - she gasped.

Her room was completely different from the one back in the real world. The paint wasn't gray and peeling from the walls - it was rosy pink. The bed was queen-sized with a lacy white canopy hanging over it. The sheets were a creamy color and looked so soft that she was tempted to dive into them right on the spot. On the wall opposite the doorway was a huge bookcase with all of her very favorite books that she could read countless times over and never get tired of. Next to the bookcase was a cute striped rug and a bubble chair, with a desk and reading lamp positioned next to it.

But the best was yet to come. Across from the bed and next to the ivory vanity mirror was a walk in closet that was about fifteen feet long and eleven feet wide. And you couldn't look anywhere without seeing clothes. There were rows and rows of designer scarves, sweaters, boots, leggings, sweaters, and every piece of clothing you could possibly ever need.

Alli felt like she had died and gone to heaven. She turned to look at her Other Mother, her eyes shining. "Thank you," she said in a soft voice - and she realized that it'd been the first time she'd thanked someone in a long time. But no one had ever done anything like this for her. "I don't think I'm ever going to bed."

The Other Mother rolled her eyes. "Don't be silly, Alli. Everyone needs their beauty sleep. Even someone as pretty as you." Alli smiled slightly, wondering when her real mother had last complimented her.

Alli began to protest, but then yawned again. Grudgingly, she slipped into the creamy sheets on her canopy bed, which felt just as good as they looked. Her Other Mother draped the duvet across her body and sat down in the rocking chair next to the bed. The Other Father and Other Max stood on either side of her, and next to them were Other Coraline and Other Wybie, smiling shyly.

Maybe if she'd been more awake and back at home, she might have found the fact that they were watching her fall asleep a little odd, but once again, she was hardly bothered. In fact, it almost felt right - it almost made her feel safe.

Alli smiled slightly as her cat Sam jumped onto the bed, climbing on top of her and curling into a small ball on her stomach. Looking around her marvelous room one last time, she sighed contentedly, closing her eyes, the word "tomorrow" repeating itself in her mind over and over again.

She went to sleep just as she was beginning to wonder how she was supposed to get back home again.

**A/N: **I'm not really sure how many people are actually still interested in this story (probably like 5...) but I just wanted to know that I read ALL of your reviews! I feel like a lot of people reading this think I don't check the reviews (which probably explains the rude comments...or maybe you do think I'll read it and just don't really care) and I get a lot of comments saying "Oh you probably won't read this but yadayada"...I DO. I always read my reviews, and I like hearing what y'all have to say! :D

So, with that, please review! I'm planning on putting up chapter 8 SOMETIME before January, probably next week or the week after that.


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